Beyond Carbon Credits

WWF International outlines a framework for high-impact nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate mitigation, emphasizing that interventions must simultaneously benefit human well-being, biodiversity, and the climate. The report argues against narrowly designing projects for carbon credits, instead advocating for landscape-scale or jurisdictional approaches that align with national strategies and the Paris Agreement. It provides a hierarchy for forest-related interventions—prioritizing REDD, then improved forest management, and finally afforestation, reforestation, and restoration—and details essential safeguards, including free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). To ensure integrity, the blueprint recommends rigorous due diligence to mitigate risks such as inflated baselines, leakage, and non-permanence.

• High-quality nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate mitigation must address three intertwined crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, and inequitable development. To be sustainable, they must deliver measurable benefits for sustainable community development, restore biodiversity and ecosystem services, and reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions.
• WWF recommends a specific priority order for forest-related NbS for climate mitigation: first, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD); second, improved forest management (IFM); and third, afforestation, reforestation and restoration (ARR).
• Landscape-scale and jurisdictional approaches are preferred over standalone projects because they better address underlying drivers of nature loss, build institutional capacity, and reduce risks like leakage and non-additionality. Standalone projects should only be developed if no jurisdictional strategy exists or if they provide exceptional benefits.
• Interventions should prioritize landscape needs over the generation of tradable carbon credits. WWF suggests that funders invest in 'landscape finance' for activities that do not generate credits, such as mapping Indigenous lands, creating wildlife connectivity corridors, and incentivizing conversion-free agriculture.
• If carbon credits are generated, WWF recommends a hierarchy of preference: first, from jurisdictional REDD+ programmes; second, from projects 'nested' into such programmes; and third, from standalone projects only in countries where no jurisdictional framework exists.
• To ensure credibility and integrity, NbS interventions must implement strict safeguards and risk mitigation. This includes requiring free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), using conservative baselines to avoid over-crediting, and establishing buffer pools to manage the risk of non-permanence.

APA

Hacking, J., Williams, B., Nielsen, S. T., & Varela, J. B. (2021). Beyond Carbon Credits. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/429/3xmko1y5k5_wwf___beyond_carbon_credits_blueprint.pdf

Chicago

Hacking, Jennifer, Brittany Williams, Sofie Tind Nielsen, and Josefina Braña Varela. Beyond Carbon Credits. WWF International, 2021. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/429/3xmko1y5k5_wwf___beyond_carbon_credits_blueprint.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hacking |first1=Jennifer |last2=Williams |first2=Brittany |last3=Nielsen |first3=Sofie Tind |last4=Varela |first4=Josefina Braña |title=Beyond Carbon Credits |publisher=WWF International |date=November 2021 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/429/3xmko1y5k5_wwf___beyond_carbon_credits_blueprint.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hacking2021beyond, author = {Hacking, Jennifer and Williams, Brittany and Nielsen, Sofie Tind and Varela, Josefina Braña}, title = {{Beyond Carbon Credits}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/429/3xmko1y5k5_wwf___beyond_carbon_credits_blueprint.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }