TOPICS OF DISCUSSION

CARBON PROJECTS PROJECT LIFE CYCLE ISSUES (ARR - ALM - REDD)

Design and Planning Phase (Table 1)

1. • Know Your Partner:  The lack of familiarity among traditional stakeholders entering the carbon market hinders long-term project development. Key stakeholders include landowners, regulators, operators, and lenders.

   • Land Ownership and Carbon Rights:

     • Uncertainty regarding the ownership of stored non-additional carbon: communities, governments, or private developers.

     • Challenges in demonstrating additionality across different carbon project types (ARR, ALM, and REDD).

     • Land use and ownership conflicts among local communities, government actors, and businesses.

     • Perpetuity conflicts in ARR projects, including buffer and loss management.

   • Uncertain Regulatory Framework:

     • Lack of clear national and international policies regulating carbon projects and land use.

     • Difficulties in integrating projects within Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

   • Fundamental Challenges:

     • Complexity in establishing a solid baseline (ARR/REDD) and national rates.

     • Difficulties in meeting the additionality, permanence, and integrity requirements imposed by standards while considering local and scientific realities.

     • Complex designs that do not align with realistic carbon capture rates.

   • Community Consultation and Participation:

     • Local resistance if communities do not perceive clear benefits or if projects impact their traditional livelihoods.

     • Challenges in establishing fair profit-sharing agreements.

   • Access to Initial Funding:

     • High initial planning and design costs with limited availability of early-stage funding.

     • Investor reluctance due to perceived high risks, particularly in unstable regions. Unfair pricing models.

     • Lack of buyers, leading to insufficient market traction.

   • Biodiversity and Co-Benefits:

     • Community biodiversity impacts.

     • Bio Credits.

     • Effects on ecosystem services.

     • Impact on carbon credit pricing and CCB certification. 

Brainstorming: Strategies to optimize the identification, design, and execution phases of NBS projects while minimizing technical, economic, and regulatory barriers.

Proposed Topics:

1. • Site selection and certification methodologies.

   • Use of artificial intelligence and remote sensing for MRV and carbon and biodiversity modeling.

   • Standardized databases for NBS projects.

   • Collaboration strategies with communities and regulatory bodies. Acceleration Strategies:

   • Application of AI, big data, and remote sensing for site assessment.

   • Pre-designed collaboration frameworks to streamline agreements.

Implementation Phase (Table 2)

1. • Environmental Factors:

     • For ARR: Adverse climatic conditions (droughts, pests, wildfires) affecting species survival.

     • For REDD: Continuous threats from human activities such as illegal logging, livestock farming, extensive agriculture, and forest fires.

   • Social and Cultural Conflicts:

     • Land use changes impacting cultural and traditional practices.

     • Coordination challenges among communities, local governments, and private economic stakeholders.

   • Operational Costs:

     • High costs associated with activities such as afforestation in ARR and monitoring forests in REDD projects.

   • Insufficient Economic Incentives:

     • Difficulty in generating short-term economic benefits for communities, reducing their commitment to projects. 

Brainstorming: Review validation and certification processes to identify opportunities for reducing time and costs.

Discussion Topics:

1. • Project Design Document (PDD) development.

   • Registration under certification standards (Verra, Gold Standard, ART TREES).

   • Use of digital platforms to streamline audits.

   • Pre-designed project models to lower entry barriers.

   • Decentralization of certification bodies. Acceleration Strategies:

   • Digitalization and automation of validations and checks.

   • Pre-arranged agreements with certifiers for expedited processes.

Monitoring, Verification, and Reporting (MVR) Phase (Table 3)

1. • Carbon Leakage and Permanence:

     • For REDD: Emission activities (e.g., logging, agriculture) shifting to areas outside project boundaries.

     • For ARR: Ensuring that stored carbon remains permanent.

     • Determination of buffer zones and alternatives for their coverage.

   • Monitoring Cost and Complexity:

     • Use of advanced tools such as satellite imagery, drones, and sensors, which are costly and challenging to implement in remote areas.

     • Need for technical training and local capacity to ensure reliable measurements.

     • Inability to monitor aboveground biomass and soil carbon evolution in a more automated and cost-effective manner.

   • Strict Compliance with Standards:

     • Challenges in meeting additionality, permanence, and integrity requirements set by certifiers.

     • Pros and cons of REDD and ARR, including vintages and biodiversity.

   • Climate Change Impact:

     • Extreme events (wildfires, droughts) potentially negating progress in both ARR and REDD initiatives. 

Brainstorming: Explore innovative techniques to accelerate ecosystem restoration and carbon sequestration. Incorporate emerging technologies such as biochar, soil microbiomes, and drones for reforestation.

Acceleration Strategies:

1. • Application of accelerated ecological restoration techniques.

   • Rapid access to financing for immediate implementation.

   • Use of satellite monitoring and remote sensing technologies.

   • Blockchain for traceability and record automation.

   • Reduction of costs and time in verification audits.

   • AI-driven remote sensing for monitoring.

   • More agile validation and certification protocols.

Commercialization Phase (Table 4)

1. • Carbon Market Volatility:

     • Low and fluctuating prices affecting project financial viability.

   • Credit Credibility:

     • Criticism regarding the integrity of REDD and ARR credits, impacting buyer confidence.

     • Challenges in demonstrating additionality and real environmental benefits.

   • Market Access Barriers:

     • Small-scale developers face challenges in connecting with large buyers or traders.

   • Lack of Insurance Mechanisms:

     • Absence of financial and insurance mechanisms to mitigate losses from natural disasters or political changes.

 Brainstorming: Identify strategies to accelerate credit sales and ensure project financial sustainability.

Acceleration Strategies:

1. • Creation of efficient and transparent marketplaces.

   • Diversification of carbon products to increase added value.

Long-Term Operation Phase (Table 5)

1. • Financial Sustainability:

     • In REDD and ARR, carbon credit revenues may be insufficient to cover long-term monitoring, management, and operational costs.

     • Need for additional revenue sources (ecotourism, non-timber forest products, etc.).

   • Permanence Risks:

     • For ARR: Ensuring planted trees survive and sequester carbon for decades.

     • For REDD: Risk of deforestation or degradation of protected forests.

     • Designing complementary perpetuity or buffer alternatives for these projects, such as support centers, biochar, and other technologies.

   • Changes in Social and Political Context:

     • New government policies or social conflicts altering project conditions.

   • Future Climate Impacts:

     • For ARR: Changing viability of selected species due to climate change.

     • For REDD: Increased wildfires or extreme events destroying protected forests.