Investing in Forest Carbon
Lessons from the First 20 Years
By Sissel Waage, Katherine Hamilton - Forest Trends, Forest Trends View PublicationThe first carbon offset sales from forestry projects occurred as early as 1990. Over the past two decades, a diverse marketplace has developed. Despite limited regulatory drivers, this development has included the establishment of some industry infrastructurelegal and political frameworks, project standards and methodologies, and expert resources. While much of this infrastructure was developed in the voluntary carbon market, more regulatory certainty is needed for the marketplace to transition from an emerging to an established market. This report reviews past and current forest carbon projects to lay out lessons and important information for the way forward.