The Standard for Nature

SOCIALCARBON is a next-generation certification platform for Nature-Based Solutions. We develop standards, certify projects and enable the issuance of environmental credits across offsetting, insetting and Nature Stewardship.

By reducing risk, cost and complexity for projects, we build trust for buyers and investors and help unlock capital for nature restoration at scale.

Accreditations

ICRA logo with a stylized triangular arrow in green, blue, black, and cyan colors, and the word ICRA in bold blue letters, with 'Endorsed' beneath it.
CORSIA logo with a globe and airplane icon

*Pilot Phase

ICVCM - Pending

What makes SOCIALCARBON different?

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    One Standard for Nature Markets

    SOCIALCARBON provides modular and interoperable certification pathways for Nature-Based Solutions. Projects can be designed for offsetting, insetting or Nature Stewardship, with the flexibility to evolve as market demand, buyer needs and regulatory expectations develop. This reduces fragmentation for project developers and creates a more flexible pathway for long-term project finance.

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    High-integrity by design

    Scientific rigour is embedded into SOCIALCARBON standards and methodologies. Projects must demonstrate credible environmental outcomes, monitor broader sustainability impacts and meet safeguards designed to protect communities and biodiversity. This means certification is not limited to carbon accounting: it also supports climate, nature and sustainable livelihood outcomes.

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    Faster, more practical certification

    SOCIALCARBON combines robust requirements with digitised workflows and a responsive certification model. This helps reduce unnecessary delays, lower project costs and accelerate the flow of finance to nature projects, while maintaining the integrity required by buyers, investors and market stakeholders.

Delivering Sustainable Livelihoods.

SOCIALCARBON’s theoretical framework is based on the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA), a methodology used for planning the development of new initiatives as well as assessing the contribution that existing initiatives have made to sustaining livelihoods

“A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base.”

Holistic, Science-Led, Grounded In Reality

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    Scientific integrity that scales

    SOCIALCARBON combines standard-level safeguards with science-led methodologies. Every project must consider its wider environmental and social impacts, including effects on biodiversity, natural resources, communities and livelihoods.

    Our methodologies are designed to reflect the latest available science while remaining practical for real-world implementation. Monitoring requirements are robust, proportionate and feasible, helping projects generate credible evidence without creating unnecessary barriers to scale.

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    Sustainable livelihoods at the centre

    SOCIALCARBON’s approach is grounded in the Sustainable Livelihoods framework. Projects assess and monitor impacts across six resource areas: Biodiversity, Natural, Human, Social, Financial and Carbon.

    This ensures that certified projects do not focus narrowly on carbon, but also consider the conditions that make long-term environmental outcomes possible: healthy ecosystems, resilient communities and sustainable local economies.

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    Global South origins, global relevance

    SOCIALCARBON was the first voluntary carbon standard developed in the Global South. Its roots trace back to the Bananal Island Carbon Sequestration Project in Brazil, where it became clear that nature-based climate action must include local people if it is to endure.

    That founding principle still shapes SOCIALCARBON today. Our standards are designed for real-world project conditions, especially in emerging markets where many of the world’s most important nature-based solutions are located.