Welcome to Carbon Justice 101! We’re excited that you’ve decided to start this journey with us.
Across the Grassroots Justice Network, hundreds of frontline communities have suddenly found themselves in the middle of carbon projects and don’t know how to navigate them. In response, the Grassroots Justice Network has co-created this online self-paced course with network members that will support frontline justice advocates to respond to carbon projects.
The goal is to equip participants with the key language about nature-based carbon projects and help them learn from successful efforts to support community rights at the community, national, and global levels.
Learning exercises draw from multiple in-person and online learning exchanges hosted by the Grassroots Justice Network over the last year and are geared towards facilitating the practical use of knowledge and skills.
The course has five modules that include videos, readings, brief quizzes, and discussion boards.
The course is available in English.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
This course is designed for grassroots justice advocates responding to carbon projects in their communities. A grassroots justice advocate is someone who helps the community to use legal empowerment – know, use, and shape law – to respond to injustices and advocate for fair laws and policies. Seasoned grassroots justice advocates who are new to carbon projects or those who are familiar with carbon projects but want to understand more how communities are impacted may benefit from the course.
The course has five modules and will will take about 15-20 hours to complete. You will also have the opportunity to interact with other participants through the discussion forums. The course will be open from August 11, 2025 to October 15, 2025 and can be taken at your own pace. We encourage you to take a few hours every week to complete the course on time.
The course has five modules:
Module 1: What do carbon projects have to do with justice?
With the available case studies, legal empowerment cycle, and resources, you will describe the positive and negative impacts of carbon projects for communities and explain how legal empowerment strategies can support carbon justice, including the carbon justice principles.
Module 2: What are Carbon Markets?
Using the provided resources and case studies, you will explain the key terms, processes, and actors of carbon markets and practice communicating about carbon markets clearly and accessibly
Module 3: What Does it Mean to Have Just Carbon Projects at the Community Level
Using the provided resources and case studies, you will be able to apply the carbon justice principles to a scenario about community carbon negotiations, incorporating community rights and gendered impacts
Module 4: What does it mean to have a just national carbon policy?
Using the National Legislation toolkit and case studies, you will be able to apply the Carbon Justice Principles to a scenario about national legislation, incorporating community rights and gendered impacts
Module 5: What does it mean to have a just global carbon policy?
Using the Pool Fund resources and case studies, you will identify how the Carbon Justice Principles connect to different global policies and systems, and scenario incorporating community rights and gendered impacts