Module 1: What do carbon projects have to do with justice?

This module will explore explore how communities are impacted by carbon projects and how legal empowerment can be used to navigate those impacts. You will also be introduced to the Carbon Justice Principles, minimum criteria for communities to thrive in a carbon credit project.

The climate crisis and the major weather changes that result is driven by a buildup of too much carbon in the atmosphere. Much of that carbon came into the atmosphere because people and corporations, mostly well-off in the global north, use excessive fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas) to maintain their lifestyle. Carbon projects are intended to address the climate crisis by reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Nature-based carbon projects, projects that use trees, soil, grasslands, and water to absorb carbon, require vast areas of land. Often, that land is attractive for carbon projects because it is more remote or has not been developed. In many cases, this means that the people who live on the land are Indigenous Peoples or local communities, many of whom do not have formal tenure recognition. How the people on the land used by carbon projects are impacted – the control they have over the project, the ways they are consulted, the revenues they may receive, and the changes that may occur to their land use and access rights – often create justice challenges.

Continue learning in this module what types of justice problems communities face, and how they can respond.