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Carbon Rights & Climate Solutions
Carbon Rights Getting Violated in 3o+ Countries
Context: As the global focus intensifies on nature-based climate solutions, a new report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) underscores a critical gap: the lack of legal recognition and protection of carbon rights for Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and Local Communities (IPLCs).
About the Report
- Title: The Carbon Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and Local Communities in Tropical and Subtropical Lands and Forests
- Published by: Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI)
- Scope: Most comprehensive legal analysis to date, assessing carbon rights laws across 33 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
- These regions host 67% of the world’s tropical and subtropical forests and are home to 1.54 billion rural people, over 44% of the global rural population.
Understanding Carbon Rights
- Carbon rights refer to the legal authority to access, manage, and benefit from the carbon stored in forests and other ecosystems.
- These rights are vital for IPLCs, who have traditionally safeguarded ecosystems but are often excluded from formal land tenure systems.
- Nature-based solutions to climate change risk excluding or marginalising IPLCs if their carbon rights are not protected.
The Link Between Biodiversity, Carbon, and Communities
- Forests, wetlands, and biodiverse ecosystems act as natural carbon sinks.
- High biodiversity enhances ecosystem resilience, improving long-term carbon storage capacity.
- Diverse species outperform monoculture plantations in carbon capture efficiency.
- Protecting biodiversity contributes not just to climate mitigation, but also to:
- Cleaner air and water
- Healthy habitats for wildlife
- Livelihoods of forest-dependent communities
Key Findings of the RRI Report
- Weak Legal Frameworks: Most countries lack adequate legal provisions to protect the carbon rights of IPLCs. This exclusion limits their fair participation in carbon trading and conservation efforts.
- Lack of Benefit-Sharing Mechanisms: 54% of countries assessed have no clear policy for sharing carbon project benefits with communities. Only 3 out of 33 countries have operational benefit-sharing systems with minimum allocations for IPLCs.
- Inadequate Safeguards: Only 26 countries have functioning safeguards information systems meeting international REDD+ standards. This raises concerns about transparency, accountability, and community access to vital land-use information.
- Consent and Participation Gaps: Many carbon initiatives proceed without obtaining Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) from affected communities. This omission increases the risk of exploitation and displacement of IPLCs.
- Gender Inequality: Only 2 of the 35 legal indicators assessed mention women’s rights in the context of carbon and land governance. Highlights a significant gender gap in carbon rights frameworks and conservation laws.
RRI’s Recommendations
- To achieve just and sustainable climate action, the report urges countries to:
- Legally recognise IPLC land and carbon rights.
- Establish equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms for carbon revenue.
- Enforce FPIC requirements for all climate and carbon initiatives.
- Create robust safeguard systems with accessible information.
- Integrate gender-specific protections within carbon governance policies.
- Ensure IPLCs can meaningfully participate in climate strategies, such as REDD+.
