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The document outlines Africa's objectives for COP27, focusing on the African Group of Negotiators' (AGN) demands for increased climate finance and the recognition of the continent's special circumstances. It highlights a tension between the African Union's (AU) support for natural gas as a transition fuel and the goals of renewable energy activists. The brief also details the roles of specific 'climate champion' countries and the impact of global geopolitical tensions, such as the US-China standoff and the Russia-Ukraine war, on climate negotiations.

The guide defines Climate Transition Action Plans (CTAPs) as forward-looking, near-term action plans distinct from backward-looking ESG disclosures. It establishes four core components for a comprehensive CTAP: emissions reduction strategies, governance and business strategy integration, public policy advocacy, and just transition. To support implementation, the document provides a foundations checklist, a CTAP template, and a progress template, emphasizing that these plans must be iterative and grounded in science-based targets to ensure corporate climate credibility.

The voluntary carbon market, valued at $2 billion in 2021, faces significant challenges regarding trust and scarcity relative to global climate needs. RMI proposes three solutions to scale high-quality credits: reducing project development time and costs through upfront capital and technology, differentiating the credit supply via ratings and quality standards, and establishing a transparent data platform to ensure integrity.

The document argues that carbon offsets are scientifically flawed and act as a barrier to necessary emissions reductions, exposing companies to significant legal risks including consumer protection lawsuits, regulatory enforcement, and shareholder actions.

The Reservoir Methane Capture Mechanism (RMCM) is a first-of-its-kind Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) designed to unlock public and private investment for capturing methane from the turbined waters of hydroelectric plants. The mechanism uses a 'methane capture-as-a-service' model to remove the need for initial capital expenditure by hydropower operators. The project follows a three-stage implementation: a USD 6.5 million proof-of-concept, a USD 54 million pilot phase involving five plants, and a scale-up phase targeting 273 projects with a potential capital mobilization of USD 3 billion. Revenues are generated through the sale of electricity and carbon credits, with the latter requiring the development of a new methodology via Gold Standard. At full scale, the RMCM aims to capture 217,000 tons of methane annually, avoiding 6.8 million tons of CO2e.

The Fund for Nature (TFFN) is a financial instrument designed to provide market-rate project-level debt to nature-based carbon projects, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa. By offering an alternative to the common practice of pre-selling carbon credits at steep discounts to corporate buyers, TFFN aims to increase the revenue captured by local project implementers and communities. A central innovation of the fund is the development of a standardized, open-sourced Simple Agreement for Future Offtake (SAFO), which serves as a bankable document to secure future carbon credit supply and act as collateral for debt. The fund targets the agriculture, forestry, and blue carbon sectors, specifically focusing on afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). A pilot fund of USD 50-70 million is envisioned, with the potential to scale as voluntary carbon markets are projected to grow significantly by 2030.

The document argues that Africa faces an annual financing gap of over $100 billion to preserve its natural capital, which is critical for global climate and biodiversity goals. It proposes a 'triple bottom line' approach—combining financial returns, environmental impact, and community benefits—applied through landscape financing, restorative agriculture, and sustainable supply chains. The paper identifies green bonds, carbon credits, and impact investing as key financial mechanisms and calls for stronger regulatory frameworks, such as the adoption of Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) guidelines, to attract private capital and prevent 'nature-washing'.

The document outlines a step-by-step process for assessing organisational GHG footprints, based on international standards like the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064. It defines three scopes of emissions: Scope 1 (direct), Scope 2 (indirect energy), and Scope 3 (other indirect value chain emissions). A central feature is the provision of a database of emission factors specifically developed for the Estonian context, covering energy production, vehicle fuels, and waste management. The guide also discusses the relationship between GHG accounting and regulatory frameworks such as the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the EMAS environmental management system.

The statement evaluates a GFANZ report on the managed phaseout of high-emitting assets, agreeing with the necessity of early retirement of fossil fuel infrastructure to meet 1.5°C goals but warning against 'paper decarbonization' where assets are sold rather than shut down. It criticizes the report's dismissal of divestment and the suggestion of using carbon credits to finance retirements, which could negate emissions benefits.

Reclaim Finance argues that the GFANZ consultation draft lacks sufficient rigor and clarity, specifically regarding 2030 emission reduction targets, the cessation of fossil fuel expansion, and the definition of net zero. The organization advocates for the adoption of Race to Zero (RTZ) criteria, including a 50% reduction in financed emissions by 2030 and the requirement for permanent carbon removals (at least 1,000 years) to neutralize residual emissions. Reclaim Finance further challenges the classification of fossil gas as a transition fuel and calls for more stringent accountability mechanisms, such as the exclusion of financial institutions from alliances if they fail to implement credible, RTZ-aligned transition plans.

The British Columbia Low Carbon Fuel Standard has reduced annual transport emissions by an average of 6% from 2010 to 2020 and is projected to meet 31% of the province's 2030 reduction goals. The author proposes two main modifications: expanding the scope to include aviation and marine fuels—which are expected to represent 51% of transport emissions by 2050—and allowing compliance credits for direct air capture with permanent storage. To succeed, the document argues the province must address incentive gaps that currently favor renewable diesel over low-carbon jet fuels, account for indirect land-use change in carbon footprint calculations to support advanced biofuels, and expand the geographic eligibility of direct air capture projects beyond provincial borders to accelerate deployment and reduce costs.

The GCF has approved USD 2.73 billion in forest finance, split between REDD+ (USD 851.1 million) and JMA (USD 1.73 billion). The report highlights that these two approaches are complementary, with significant overlap in readiness and implementation phases. The GCF aims to leverage both public and private finance to scale up deforestation-free supply chains and high-quality carbon credits.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) outlines a framework of ten 'guard rails' to ensure that the voluntary use of nature-based solution (NBS) carbon credits supports the 1.5°C warming limit and protects biodiversity and human rights. The guidance distinguishes between using credits to 'counterbalance' unabated emissions—which requires a science-based reduction pathway—and using them to 'contribute' to a jurisdiction's climate mitigation. WRI emphasizes a shift from project-level to jurisdictional-scale REDD+ credits and mandates transparent reporting aligned with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

The report evaluates the economic viability of restoring peatlands in Central Kalimantan and mangroves in Belitung, Indonesia. It argues that land rehabilitation is most effective when implemented as a package of interventions—such as combining canal blocking, land-use monitoring, and fire suppression for peatlands, or pairing mangrove planting with ecotourism—rather than as isolated measures. For peatlands, the highest societal net benefit (USD 4.136 billion by 2100) is achieved through a combined approach, primarily driven by avoided carbon emissions and fire damages. For mangroves, rehabilitation is deemed economically viable only when linked to additional revenue streams like ecotourism, which provides sustainable livelihoods and prevents land conversion for tin mining. The analysis emphasizes that local community income is critical for long-term success, as without alternative revenue (e.g., carbon payments or tourism), communities may return to environmentally damaging activities.

Carbon Market Watch argues that an independent grievance body must be operational before any Article 6.4 activities begin to avoid reputational risks and human rights infringements. The author recommends that this body be independent of the 6.4 Supervisory Body, free of charge for stakeholders, and capable of imposing temporary measures like suspending credit issuance. The document also suggests extending this mechanism to cover Article 6.2 and compares existing voluntary carbon market standards, noting that some, like Verra, have inappropriate fee requirements.

Carbon Market Watch argues that Parties should prioritize domestic mitigation over carbon credits and recommends strict transparency, science-based definitions for removals, and the establishment of an independent grievance body for Article 6 mechanisms.

The report challenges the "carbon neutral" claim of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, finding that the estimated 3.6MtCO2e footprint likely underestimates actual emissions due to flawed accounting of stadium construction. It further argues that the carbon credits provided by the Global Carbon Council lack integrity due to non-additionality and that the event's mitigation measures, such as a desert turf farm, are not durable.

The briefing outlines a strategic framework for G20 nations to integrate forest conservation into climate action. It proposes six key measures: legal commitments to minimize deforestation, a collective goal to plant 1 trillion trees by 2030, food system transformation, safeguarding Indigenous rights, improving non-timber forest product markets, and establishing high-quality nature-based carbon credit policies. The author emphasizes Indonesia's role as a 'carbon superpower' to lead by example through expanded moratoriums, social forestry permits, and robust carbon credit frameworks.

The report evaluates the impact of expanding the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to cover more European aviation flights compared to the European Commission's (EC) proposal, which retains the EU ETS for intra-EEA flights and uses CORSIA for flights between the EEA and other participating states. Using the AERO-MS model, the study finds that expanding the EU ETS to include all outgoing flights (Scenario 1) or all outgoing and incoming flights (Scenario 2) would significantly increase emission reductions and auctioning revenues, though at a higher cost to airlines. Specifically, Scenario 2 would result in a 113% higher emission reduction than the EC proposal. The report also highlights uncertainties in CORSIA's effectiveness, noting that changes in the baseline or non-participation of major aviation countries could reduce its emission reductions by up to 77%.

The methodology evaluates carbon credits across seven quality objectives: robust GHG impact determination, avoidance of double counting, addressing non-permanence, facilitating the transition to net zero, institutional arrangements of the crediting program, environmental and social impacts, and host country ambition. It employs a standardized scoring system (1-5) using point systems and 'inverse weighing' to ensure that a low score in one critical criterion cannot be offset by high scores in others. The guide focuses on ex-post credits and provides detailed indicators for assessing additionality, vulnerability in collapsed markets, and the alignment of credits with the Paris Agreement's Article 6 and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).