Conversations on Integrity in Nature-based Carbon

We are here introducing a new forum for discussing issues associated with the nature-based carbon market with a particular focus on the integrity of carbon offsets. The forum will be edited and quality-controlled by fellow experts and fills a gap where practitioners, stakeholders and interested parties can learn and debate what ensures integrity in the NbS carbon market. In this forum integrity will be defined broadly covering science, governance, safeguards, finance and any other aspect that provides confidence and trust in NbS credits. 

The series will fill a gap between academic journals and fast-turnaround media commentary allowing open discussion from all perspectives by and for practitioners, policymakers, market participants and informed critics. The topic is not black and white – we aim to explore the nuances, hear diverse opinions, and won’t shy away from controversial or hard topics (all in the spirit of honest, convivial exchange).   

Ecosystem Marketplace’s State of the Voluntary Carbon Market 2025 report documented the decline in transaction volume and value across most sectors. While this market slowdown also was recorded in nature-based credits, one subsector stood out: nature-based removal credits grew in market share and bucked the trend of falling prices across the rest of the market.  

No project type is immune from integrity critiques, and demand for forestry credits simultaneously brings enhanced visibility. We recognize forestry and other nature-based carbon projects can help mitigate climate change, restore damaged soils and watersheds, protect threatened ecosystems, and support some of the most disadvantaged communities – but this potential means nothing without confidence in the integrity of credits.  Integrity critiques have spanned a spectrum of issues, from exaggerated emission reductions, questionable additionality, poor accounting of leakage, adverse stakeholder impacts, and inadvertent environmental harm among other factors. We aim to explore all these topics and more within the series. 

We also want to walk the talk on integrity in this forum! The four of us will form the inaugural oversight board and serve for an initial annual term. The board is responsible for determining quarterly focus areas and appointing quarterly editors. We’ll publish monthly contributions from invited authors focusing on our quarterly theme. The posts themselves are intended to be short (~500 words) and rapidly digestible. 

We intend this to be an open, practitioner-led forum. We invite you to join by contributing perspectives, challenging and contradicting viewpoints shared. You can join the public LinkedIn Group created for this series, where we’ll post new pieces as they’re published and welcome your joining the conversation.