Community guidelines for accessing forestry voluntary carbon ... - FAO
Community guidelines for accessing forestry voluntary carbon ... - FAO
Community guidelines for accessing forestry voluntary carbon ... - FAO
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<strong>Community</strong> <strong>guidelines</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>accessing</strong> <strong>for</strong>estry <strong>voluntary</strong> <strong>carbon</strong> markets<br />
• Are <strong>for</strong>est <strong>carbon</strong> projects legal?<br />
• What laws and regulations do I need to know about?<br />
• Am I allowed to use my land <strong>for</strong> <strong>for</strong>est <strong>carbon</strong> projects?<br />
• Do I have the right to sell <strong>carbon</strong> credits?<br />
• How might my project affect other peoples’ land rights?<br />
• If laws are not yet clear on <strong>for</strong>est <strong>carbon</strong>, could my rights<br />
change in the future, and how would this affect my project?<br />
In many countries in the region, governments are starting to develop<br />
national REDD+ programmes. This may help in the development of<br />
<strong>for</strong>estry VCM projects, or make them more difficult, or both. On the<br />
positive side, national programmes must clear up any legal uncertainty<br />
on <strong>for</strong>est <strong>carbon</strong> issues, so project developers in these countries should<br />
soon have a much better idea of their rights to start a <strong>for</strong>estry VCM project<br />
and to benefit from the trade in <strong>carbon</strong> offsets. On the other hand, more<br />
rules and regulations may make it more difficult <strong>for</strong> private individuals<br />
or communities to benefit from the VCM. Forestry VCM projects must<br />
fit (or ‘nest’) somehow within a national REDD+ programme, to avoid<br />
double accounting, i.e. the VCM project developers and the government<br />
cannot both trade the same <strong>carbon</strong> credits. In most cases, it is still too<br />
early to say how REDD+ programmes will affect <strong>for</strong>estry VCM project<br />
developers, but it is vital to keep up to date with the legal implications.<br />
Independent legal advice is very important. In rural areas, it is often one<br />
of the hardest services to find. There are few government services that<br />
provide legal aid or af<strong>for</strong>dable, accessible support <strong>for</strong> legal processes<br />
to small businesses in rural areas. It will there<strong>for</strong>e probably be more<br />
productive to approach local community groups with requests <strong>for</strong> legal<br />
aid relating to the <strong>for</strong>estry VCM and to make sure that this message<br />
reaches civil society organizations that have access to international<br />
funding agencies. Civil society organizations in the Asia-Pacific region,<br />
however, often focus their legal aid ef<strong>for</strong>ts on human rights and<br />
governance re<strong>for</strong>m, but not on business development.<br />
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