Multiple Benefit Carbon Standards Now Accessible to More Project Managers and Investors

Arlington, VA – The Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) today released translations of its rigorous forest carbon standards in two additional languages, Portuguese and Japanese.  The Second Edition standards, now available in a total of six languages, will help reach two key audiences including many of the people directly involved in forest carbon projects in Brazil and the growing number of carbon offset investors in Japan.

The Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standards provide a set of stringent and verifiable criteria to determine the ability of a forest project to reduce or remove greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while simultaneously providing social and additional environmental benefits. Independent third-party auditors verify that a project satisfies all required criteria, which demonstrates that the project will mitigate climate change, conserve wildlife and natural ecosystems and improve local livelihoods.

“We are delighted that the CCB Standards are now able to reach an even wider audience,” said Joanna Durbin, Director of the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance. “We strive to maximize the access to these standards and these new translations address a critical audience of project developers in Brazil and buyers of multiple-benefit carbon offsets in Japan.” The CCB Standards are also available in English, Chinese, French and Spanish.

Within the borders of Brazil, a Portuguese speaking country, there are approximately 3.3 million square kilometers of Amazon Rainforest – the largest in the world. When forests are cut, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Few people realize that burning and clearing of tropical forests globally emits 20 percent of total greenhouse gases that cause climate change – more than all the world’s cars, trucks and airplanes combined.

Deforestation in Brazil accounts for almost 60 percent of the country’s GHG emissions – making it the world’s fourth largest emitter after China, the US and Indonesia. The CCB Standards demonstrate to offset investors that forest projects provide multiple benefits and command a premium price for the sale of offsets. The availability of the CCB Standards in multiple languages facilitates the design of new projects that curb climate change and adds a new level of transparency.

“The CCB Standards were adopted by the Juma Sustainable Development Reserve project to avoid deforestation, which is being implemented by our government with local and international partners. This way we can make sure that the resources obtained by REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) projects meet their goals of providing concrete benefits to indigenous and other local communities, who are the true guardians of the forest”, said Nádia Ferreira, Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Development of Amazonas. “It is important to have a tool like the CCB Standards in Portuguese because Brazil has an enormous potential for REDD projects,” she added.

In Japan, a growing number of environmentally and socially conscious investors are becoming aware that the CCB standards will help them to identify projects that meet their emissions reductions and social responsibility goals.

“CCB is becoming an international standard as an effective tool to demonstrate that projects generate multiple benefits to community and biodiversity while reducing GHG,” says Dr. Hozuma Sekine Project Manager, Science and Safety Policy Research Division at the Mitsubishi Research Institute. “The scope of CCB is wide from forest to agriculture, and I look forward to CCB being adopted for various land-use projects around the world.” Mitsubishi Research Institute and Conservation International have been designing a reforestation project in the Philippines using CCB Standards. The project is working to demonstrate clear biodiversity and community benefits in while it mitigates climate change.

Presently, over 100 land-based projects around the world are using the CCB Standards to improve project design and generate compelling multiple benefits. A number of major corporations are now using CCB carbon for their offsets, including Marriott International, Disney Company and 3M.

The Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) is a Conservation International convened partnership between leading companies and NGOs seeking to foster the development of forest protection and restoration activities around the world that deliver significant climate, local community and biodiversity benefits.  CCBA members include six companies – BP, Intel, SC Johnson, Sustainable Forestry Management, Weyerhaeuser and GFA Envest – and five NGOs – Conservation International, CARE, Rainforest Alliance, The Nature Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Visit our website and download the standards at www.climate-standards.org

Media Contact: Katrin Olson
Conservation International
Office: 703-341-2768
Mobile: 202-549-3953
Email: kolson@conservation.org