A realist literature review commissioned by FSD Africa and FCDO assessing social, economic, and environmental impacts of carbon markets in LMICs. It finds that inclusive governance, upfront finance, and higher carbon prices drive better outcomes for communities, while poor design and low prices heighten risks.
FAO’s 2025 Global Forest Resources Assessment shows forests still cover 4.14 billion ha, 32% of Earth’s land, but nearly 11 million ha are lost each year. The rate of deforestation is slowing, while restoration and protected areas expand, offering mixed progress toward global forest and climate goals.
Published by Carbon Direct and JPMorgan Chase (Oct 2025), this whitepaper sets principles for financing VCM projects that deliver measurable biodiversity alongside carbon. Focus on ARR/IFM, portfolio-level reporting, non-fungibility of biodiversity, and practical, project-level MMRV design.
Published by OIES and Trafigura, this Energy Insight explains how to operationalize Article 6 markets after the completion of the COP29 Rulebook, covering host-country frameworks, transaction models (6.2 and 6.4), compliance market growth, and the legal, financial and reporting infrastructure needed to scale a global carbon market.
Authored by Alvaro Vallejo, this report consolidates current thinking, market data, and emerging standards for voluntary biodiversity credits, mapping methodologies, governance, verification, and market design features shaping credible, investable nature-positive outcomes.
Published by Forest Trends, this landscape report maps finance architecture affecting IPLCs, identifies barriers to access and accountability, and compiles tools and data portals to improve transparency, direct access, rights safeguards and equitable benefit-sharing in climate and conservation finance.
The report by UNEP benchmarks current flows against needs and finds a large annual gap to 2030. It proposes unlocking capital through clear national rules (including Article 6 readiness), integrity standards, and pipelines that blend public instruments with private demand from VCM/compliance markets. Case references show how registry, MRV and safeguards architecture, paired with de-risking tools, can mobilise scaled, durable investment aligned with climate and biodiversity goals.
Published by UNEP, this analysis maps tropical “high-risk forests” where protection yields the greatest combined returns for people and climate, quantifying services for water, food, hazard mitigation and livelihoods to guide where finance and policy should prioritise action.
Published by IFC’s, this guidance frames blue finance within green/sustainable markets and adds clearer eligibility screens across water, plastics, shipping, aquaculture and marine conservation. It offers example KPIs/indicators, links to IFC Performance Standards and Paris alignment, and case studies for structuring blue bonds/loans and SLIs. It helps market participants select activities, manage E&S risks, and disclose results that build integrity and investor confidence.
Published by the Forest Declaration Assessment coalition, the 2025 edition tracks progress toward 2030 forest goals with a focus on finance and market signals, integrity developments, uptake of forest credits across VCM and compliance channels, and policy pathways (including Article 6) shaping investment into priority forest landscapes.