New York, 22 September – The Natural Climate Solutions Alliance with support from the SustainAbility Institute by ERM has developed the guide ‘Natural Climate Solutions and the Voluntary Carbon Market’ to provide decision makers guidance to drive demand for high-quality Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) projects and urge companies to mitigate their emissions beyond their value chains.
NCS are actions which protect, conserve, sustainably use, manage and restore ecosystems, but they are also a way to address two other major crises: the loss of biodiversity and social injustice.
“The climate crisis requires businesses to demonstrate leadership by counterbalancing their unabated emissions year on year, in addition to their efforts to decarbonize their value chain (Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions) in the transition to net zero, through the purchase and retirement of high-quality carbon NCS credits on the voluntary carbon market. That is why it is important to provide decision makers with key facts about why they should invest in the voluntary carbon market while taking action in decarbonizing their value chain at the same time.” Peter Bakker, President and CEO of WBCSD
The guide provides C-suite executives with an overview of why they should purchase NCS credits that go beyond the delivery of carbon credits by providing measurable benefits to nature and people. It also provides an overview of the business drivers for investing in NCS voluntary carbon credits and practical guidance on immediate actions that can be taken to build a credible climate strategy using NCS voluntary carbon credits.
“Businesses recognize they have a critical role to play in tackling climate change and reversing nature degradation. Companies have put in place strategies to drive down emissions across their value chains and are now looking at what further steps they can take to address the climate emergency.
“We welcomed this opportunity to work with the NCSA to help CEOs and their organizations understand how Natural Climate Solutions can accelerate their journey to net zero. ERM has joined the NCS Alliance and signed up to the NCS Investment Accelerator as part of our own commitment to addressing climate, nature and livelihood challenges within our overall decarbonization strategy. We believe that high-quality NCS carbon credits make good business sense and we look forward to working with peers, partners and clients to help drive this market forward.” Tom Reichert, CEO of ERM Group
The voluntary carbon market is not the only way businesses can finance NCS. In particular businesses in land sectors should consider investing in NCS within their own value chain – this is also known as insetting.
The value of the voluntary carbon market quadrupled in 2021 compared to 2020. The majority of this growth occurred in the Forestry and Land-use sector (FOLU) - where most NCS activities take place. While this is impressive, it still falls short of the potential of nature to help stop climate change.
NCS will play a critical role in achieving a just transition to global net zero emissions by 2050 and the businesses that have a validated net zero target should consider stepping up and raising their ambitions by investing in Natural Climate Solutions voluntary carbon credits.
We thank all organizations and individuals that have contributed to the development of the C-Suite Executive Guide.
