Benefit Sharing with Climate Justice

Written by

Danny Chen

The success of carbon credit projects with biodiversity outcome is based on stakeholder engagement. When the project makes some results, how should we recognize and reward stakeholders who involve?

In this post, we will discuss the benefit-sharing mechanisms.

The benefit-sharing mechanisms are used to ensure stakeholders are recognized for their involvement. The benefits may be monetary or other as long as they are agreed upon through stakeholder participatory and good faith negotiation processes.

As a stakeholder who care about climate justice, here are top 5 principles to examine the robustness of the benefit sharing mechanism.

Align with the local context and international human rights laws.

Share with the affected communities in a culturally appropriate manner in the project design phase.

Report the decision-making participation and agreements by Indigenous people, smallholders, or local community members.

Disclose benefit distribution, project funding, and costs transparently with stakeholders.

Provide information that is publicly available

The proposed mechanism must be reviewed at validation for appropriateness and at each verification for effectiveness.

When screening projects with community benefits in the future, apply these principles to promote stakeholder engagement and align with climate justice.