Can Carbon Projects Actually Be Community-Led?

Carbon markets are booming and failing, yet too often they fail to deliver for the very people whose lands and lives are most affected. Many projects risk reinforcing extractive models that overlook community priorities, weaken local governance, and sideline justice and equity.

This session asks a critical question: Can carbon projects actually be community-led?

Carbon markets should and must invest in community-determined solutions. But what tools and approaches can get us there? We’ll bring together practitioners, community leaders, and innovators shaping new standards and tools to ensure carbon finance strengthens, not undermines, local priorities and rights.

• Hear from communities and frontline actors who are already leading efforts to align conservation and climate finance with their own visions for the future.
• Explore a new upcoming carbon standard, “Climate Justice,” designed to require community priority-setting, governance tools, and equity safeguards throughout the life of a project.
• Learn about tools and models that anchor projects in community-defined aspirations and assets, rather than narrow, externally imposed metrics.
• Dive into governance and equity tools that assess whether projects are truly delivering social justice and community-led outcomes.
• Engage with funders, researchers, and field practitioners exploring how carbon markets can adopt hard lines on justice, sovereignty, and equity.

Without real community leadership, carbon projects risk becoming another extractive industry in disguise, and many critique that, infact, they already have become this. By embedding community-driven tools, accountability checks (like five-year verification cycles tied to community priorities), and tools for equity, we can reimagine carbon markets as mechanisms for justice and resilience.

This conversation goes beyond critique to chart a path forward, one where carbon finance is measured not just in tons, but in trust, justice, and locally-led change.

• Jose Gualinga and Sabine Bouchat: Pueblo Originario Kichwa de Sarayaku, leading the Kawsay Ñampi Project
• Ambrosius “Ruwi” Ruwindrijarto (co-CEO): Mitra BUMMA 
• Tracey Osborne (Founder and Director): Climate Justice Standard
• Ashley Emerson (co-CEO of Business and Scale): Health in Harmony

• Adam Miller (Executive Director): Planet Indonesia
• Majka Burkardt (Founder and CEO): Legado

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