Beyond Offsets: People and planet-centred responses to the climate and biodiversity crisis
Funding that works: increasing the focus on non-market, sustained and long-term thinking
Resource mobilisation and appropriate funding for biodiversity and climate action are key challenges in meeting the global commitments made to address these issues. While huge attention is paid to the emergence of so-called ‘nature markets’ and financial instruments linked to carbon and biodiversity units, not enough is paid to the need to reform and scale up the provision of stable and long-term non-market financing. This includes tax reform, philanthropic giving through direct channels and public funding provided through bilateral or multilateral channels (among others).
Read the report in English, French and Spanish
FPP is thrilled to be launching a contribution to this important area of research and thinking, in ‘Beyond Offsets: People and Planet-Centred Responses to the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis’, a new report by Fern, Forest Peoples Programme and Rainforest Foundation UK that sets out alternatives to flawed voluntary carbon and biodiversity markets.
The report comes at a critical time when voluntary carbon and biodiversity offset markets have faced widespread criticism for their failure to demonstrate climate or nature benefit, to ensure funding reaches frontline communities and for fuelling land grabs in tropical forest countries, while also diverting crucial political resources away from raising the public funds needed.
This report disputes the often-repeated claim that only offsets can generate the scale of funding needed to protect forests, highlighting huge untapped sources, including progressive taxation, philanthropic support and private-sector engagement.
This report disputes the often-repeated claim that only offsets can generate the scale of funding needed to protect forests, highlighting huge untapped sources, including progressive taxation, philanthropic support and private-sector engagement.
‘For too long, nature markets have been promoted as the only way to generate finance for forest protection at the required scale, despite their serious flaws and risks to communities and the planet,’ said Joe Eisen, Executive Director at Rainforest Foundation UK. ‘This report aims to put forest peoples back at the centre of discussions by exploring non-market approaches and the contribution they can make’.
The report provides an overview of six channels for non-market approaches: direct support for Indigenous-led funds, adaptive payment for performance systems, development assistance and philanthropic programming, in-setting and contribution claims, debt cancellation, reparations and debt-for-nature deals. It assesses the relative merit of each approach against a core set of principles, including international human rights and environmental law, good governance norms, transparency, mutual accountability and environmental justice.
‘Forests play a significant role in sustaining cultural and biological diversity, but too often the very people who are central to maintaining forests and the carbon stocks and biodiversity they contain have been absent from the design and implementation of initiatives to deliver this’, said Helen Tugendhat, Environmental Governance Coordinator at Forests Peoples Programme. ‘This report emphasises the need to prioritise the rights of forest peoples and communities and their crucial role in protecting these vital ecosystems’.
The co-publication also offers a series of recommendations for civil society organisations, Indigenous Peoples and community groups, policymakers and the private sector, urging them to adopt and advocate for finance and support that strengthens self-determination, reaches communities more directly, and is predictable and sustained over long timeframes.
‘By exploring non-market approaches, we hope to spark a shift towards holistic solutions that address climate, biodiversity and community needs in a just and equitable manner’, said Hannah Mowat, Campaigns Coordinator at Fern. ‘This report is a call to action for all stakeholders to prioritise the voices and rights of those who have been the stewards of our forests for generations’.
The report, ‘Beyond Offsets: People and Planet-Centred Responses to the Climate 'and Biodiversity Crisis’, is available for download (below) in English, French and Spanish on the RFUK’s, Forests Peoples Programme’s and Fern’s websites.
Overview
- Resource Type:
- Reports
- Publication date:
- 29 May 2024
- Programmes:
- Territorial Governance Supply Chains and Trade Global Finance Climate and forest policy and finance Culture and Knowledge Conservation and human rights