Save the Children is pleased to announce it will assume stewardship of the pilot Carbon Fairness Standard, a recent initiative that seeks to ensure Indigenous peoples and other local communities are treated fairly in respect of carbon projects developed on land they steward.
Indigenous peoples steward 25 percent of the earth’s land and waters, which in turn protect 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity. They are therefore critical to responding to the planet’s climate and biodiversity challenges by accelerating nature-based solutions that also benefit communities.
“Save the Children is uniquely positioned to leverage our global reach and trusted relationships with local communities to support nature-based solutions to the climate crisis that also generate genuine development benefits for communities in many of the world’s most challenging regions,” said Paul Ronalds, CEO Save the Children Global Ventures. “With market analysts predicting the carbon market to increase 100-fold to $250 billion worldwide by 2050, now is the time to make sure communities are appropriately rewarded for their land stewardship through a robust Carbon Fairness Standard.”
Australia-based environmental services organisation Natural Carbon commenced development of the Carbon Fairness Standard pilot in 2021. For the past decade they have supported Indigenous and other communities to access the Australian carbon market in a fair way.
“Natural Carbon is thrilled to see its Carbon Fairness Standard move into the next phase of its development in the hands of our trusted partner Save the Children,” said Marnie Lassen, CEO Natural Carbon. “Save the Children’s global on-ground community partnerships will enable the Standard to have the impact our Board envisioned when first developing the Standard.”
Save the Children Global Ventures is also teaming up with another Australia-based organisation, Carbon Neutral, to identify regional communities in need of fair carbon market representation. Carbon Neutral is a carbon offset provider that for the past 20 years has successfully worked with individuals and organisations to reduce their impact on the planet.
Carbon Neutral CEO, Dr Phil Ireland, said: “Being an impact-driven organisation, Carbon Neutral couldn’t be more excited about this partnership. This is an exceptional opportunity with significant potential to enhance our operations and contribute even further to a positive impact on both climate change and Indigenous communities. This endeavour will enable Carbon Neutral to collaborate closely with Indigenous carbon project partners, ensuring robust support from a provider aligned with shared values throughout and beyond this transitional phase.”
