The Untapped Potential of Great Green Wall Voluntary Carbon Market Projects 2024

Recommendation 3 Recommendation 4Generate new VCM public-private partnerships to de-risk private sector investment Focus on community-centred approaches to create green jobs Given the substantial social, economic and environmental benefits that a thriving carbon market can bring, donor governments and multilateral development banks should co-invest in carbon- sequestering restoration work. By establishing public-private partnerships, governments and international donors can help to de-risk investments by funding feasibility assessments, initial registration, free, prior and informed consent processes and even restoration efforts. Since grant funding focuses on impact returns rather than financial returns, this approach would reduce the upfront costs for private investors and significantly reduce risks while boosting the overall return on investment. Such blended finance approaches represent an opportunity to de-risk, mature and strengthen the integrity of the voluntary carbon market, although the use of public funding to augment private investment in carbon markets carries a risk that the VCM structure becomes fixed around the need for public funding. Design of blended finance models needs to be strategic and follow an approach that aligns with the principle of maturing the VCM with the ultimate goal of ensuring the costs of such de-risking are efficiently accounted for within private capital investment in landscape-level VCM projects. This requires a degree of collaboration and coordination between supply-side market actors including project developers, implementing partners, business and communities. Local communities hold the key to delivering effective programming in GGW countries, as their land and custodianship are crucial for creating efficient and permanent solutions to the challenges outlined above. By ensuring fully informed decision-making processes and developing robust governance structures, Indigenous Peoples and local communities within the GGW are uniquely positioned to be a major partner in the VCM value chain. Programmes designed to seize VCM opportunities must do so fully cognizant of the role Indigenous Peoples and local communities should play and co-design interventions which create the long-term foundations for success, including sustained benefit-sharing mechanisms.Recommendation 2 Mobilize ongoing public funding to strengthen the enabling environment for future carbon investments Organizations like the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR- ICRAF), Farm Africa, Tree Aid and others55 have invested a great deal in building the capacity of communities to manage their landscapes effectively. New carbon investments should seek to build upon, and potentially partner with, these past and ongoing efforts in landscape restoration to align objectives and maximize returns. Where large restoration projects funded through grant funding are planned, integrating carbon investment into their design should be considered. Local communities hold the key to delivering effective programming in GGW countries, as their land and custodianship are crucial for creating efficient and permanent solutions to the challenges outlined above. The Untapped Potential of Great Green Wall Voluntary Carbon Market Projects 22