ID: 1586
Presenting Author: Ross Mitchell
Session: 756 - Assessing Integrity: The Role of Impact Assessment in High-Quality Nature-Based Carbon Projects
Status: pending
Shows how IA tools enhance NbCS credibility by integrating biodiversity, biophysical systems, FPIC, and social safeguards for more inclusive, adaptive, and verifiable carbon projects.
Nature-based Climate solutions (NbCS, often referred to as Natural Climate Solutions or NCS) are central to achieving the Paris Agreement and Global Biodiversity Framework targets, yet their credibility depends on how environmental and social integrity are designed, assessed, and verified. Standards such as Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standards embed biodiversity and safeguard requirements but often emphasize ex-post carbon verification over predictive, system-wide analysis and cumulative effects analysis. This paper compares Impact Assessment (IA) methodologies with VCS/CCB frameworks to identify key complementarities. The analysis shows that IA adds predictive, participatory, and adaptive dimensions that enhance NbCS credibility and resilience. Drawing on examples from Peru, Indonesia, and Kenya, the paper illustrates how IA integration strengthens biophysical and socio-cultural components such as hydrology, biodiversity baselines, and social inclusion, while aligning with emerging integrity frameworks including ICVCM, TNFD, CSRD, and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. IA also provides a structured pathway for achieving Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and participatory design—translating principles into tangible processes that improve outcomes for communities, investors, and developers. Applying IA principles adds modest time and cost but enhances transparency, investor confidence, and community ownership, leading to more defensible outcomes and stronger scientific rigor. Harmonizing IA and carbon methodologie
Ross E. Mitchell, PhD, Founder of Verdensure Inc., is a sustainability and HSSE leader with over 25 years’ experience integrating impact assessment and safeguards into Nature-based Climate Solutions.