COP30 is drawing to a close, and Forests of the World is taking stock of one of the areas where forests are represented in the formal negotiations at COP30: carbon credits.
When Climate Becomes a Market
Carbon credits are about allowing countries to trade carbon. This means putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions so that countries, through a globally regulated market, can trade so-called carbon credits and thereby buy emission reductions. This is what Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is about.
However, at recent climate summits it has not been possible to agree on the crucial technical details under Article 6 that are needed to ensure that carbon trading mechanisms function with high climate integrity. In other words, to ensure that every transaction results in a real, measurable, and additional reduction in CO₂ emissions. As a result, part of the agenda at COP30 has focused on finalising the rules needed to establish a robust international framework for trading these credits.
This includes rules to ensure that CO₂ reductions are not counted twice—for example, when one country sells a CO₂ reduction to another without removing that reduction from its own climate accounts, meaning the same reduction is counted in both countries’ inventories. The negotiations have also addressed which types of projects are allowed to generate credits, such as projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere, including forest-based projects.
But How Did It Go?
Overall, negotiations on Article 6 have been marked by significant stumbling blocks. The mechanism intended to facilitate trade between countries remains an empty framework that allows trading without sufficient oversight or enforcement. The core dispute concerns how strict the rules governing carbon credit mechanisms should be. While industry actors and market interests favour weaker rules to make trading easier and expand the supply of credits, environmental organisations and several countries are pushing for strict rules to ensure that offsets lead to real and additional emission reductions.
At the same time, many countries in the Global South are calling for genuine emission reductions rather than placing excessive reliance on carbon credits. This relates to the non-market-based approach—a platform that enables countries to cooperate on climate mitigation and adaptation without trading carbon credits. This is also where Forests of the World sees the greatest potential. The focus here is not on pricing carbon, but on sharing knowledge, technology, financing, and capacity building to drive the green transition. This includes cooperation on developing and implementing renewable energy, as well as support for forest protection and the promotion of sustainable agriculture.
Why Is This Important for Forests of the World?
When Forests of the World follows Article 6 negotiations at COP30, the goal is to ensure that decisions uphold high integrity, social justice, and permanent carbon storage in forest-related carbon credits. While Forests of the World would prefer the transition to be driven through non-market-based approaches, carbon credits remain a major topic at COP30.
The growing focus on carbon credits could increase attention to forest conservation. However, if not carefully designed, these mechanisms risk undermining climate action instead. Carbon credits should therefore only be used as a last resort, and only once the underlying drivers of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions have already been addressed. It is also essential that sustainable forest management, high biodiversity standards, and environmental integrity are integral to all forest-based initiatives.
Finally, it is crucial that Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities play a central role in the implementation of carbon credit schemes. This must include direct financing and strong social safeguards, ensuring that projects do not lead to displacement, loss of land rights, or negative impacts on livelihoods.
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