First community carbon credits unlock conservation cash

From the newsletter

Private carbon buyers have for the first time paid communities to restore degraded land at scale and under high-integrity standards. A community-focused grassland restoration project in South Africa issued the world’s first Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) carbon credits, marking a milestone for conservation finance.

• The issuance of 266,255 verified carbon units by Tasc, a carbon project developer on January 23rd followed closely after Rubicon Carbon signed a nine-year agreement to supply Microsoft with two million tonnes of carbon credits from trees planted on degraded farmland in Uganda.

• Low and unstable rural incomes across Africa are a major barrier to effective conservation. In both projects, carbon finance is channelled directly to smallholder farmers, turning degraded land into income-generating conservation assets.

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