FSC launches its Climate Coalition at COP27 to drive progress on forest-based climate solutions

FSC's Director General announced the new effort, which will convene different sectors and voices into the FSC Climate Coalition, to enhance the role that forests and the FSC standards play in combating climate change. FSC aims to ensure that Indigenous Peoples, smallholders, and forest stewards benefit from participating in certification and the growing carbon market.

(Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, 12 November 2022) – Today at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), FSC Director General, Kim Carstensen, officially launched the FSC Climate Coalition as a new forum to convene key stakeholders in the fight against climate change.

The FSC Climate Coalition will be a multi-sector partnership platform for creating and testing climate solutions that originate from forests. The goal of the initiative is to turn ideas into action by bringing together partners who might not otherwise interact to collaboratively refine and pilot projects. Included in the group will be perspectives from various points in the value chain – project developers, corporations, investors, carbon standards, indigenous representatives, environmental groups and research bodies.

Reflecting on the need for partnership, Kim Carstensen said “FSC has over 26 years of experience as a convening body. Now, let’s put that to use in ensuring that forests are incorporated in climate action in a way that benefits forest stewards. To do this, we need partners.”

Carstensen was joined on stage by senior representatives from some of the first FSC Climate Coalition members: FSC certificate holders Ikea and SIG, the non-profit Forest Trends, the project developer South Pole, as well as carbon standards Verra and Gold Standard.

Marco Magini, Director Climate Projects at South Pole, voiced their enthusiasm for the initiative “Such collaborations enable open, honest conversations about what’s working and what’s not, which allows all of us to learn faster. We’re already well into our ‘decade of action’ and we just cannot afford to have everyone trying to figure out forest-based climate solutions by themselves. We must work together to have a true climate impact, and we must act faster, today."

Nature-based solutions (NBS) have been a major topic at COP27 this year, with a growing consensus that forests have a role to play, particularly in the ongoing conversation about carbon accounting. Reflecting on the latest trends, Stephen Donofrio, Managing Director, Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace and Supply Change initiatives, shared that “In the voluntary carbon markets, we’ve seen that climate is the bait and co-benefits are the hook, when it comes to increasing demand and price paid per credit. Our data consistently shows market preferences for carbon credit projects that are rich in social, biodiversity, water and other environmental attributes”.

Tackling the complexity of certification, carbon accounting, carbon credits, and carbon rights will be the first major topic for the FSC Climate Coalition, which will begin to formally convene in early 2023.

For more information on the FSC Climate Coalition, please reach out to Theresa Keith (t.keith@fsc.org).