In 2023, Second Nature’s Offsets Lab began collaborating with the Climate Justice Standard to support the work of codifying climate justice practices into carbon offset project development, implementation, and monitoring.

The Climate Justice Standard is platforming a new approach to certifying nature-based climate solutions, with equity at the center. It is a framework for developing and monitoring nature-based carbon offset projects with Indigenous peoples and local communities as leaders and collaborators in the process. The CSJ is being developed by Dr. Tracey Osborne, Professor at the University of California-Merced, and the Director of the UC Center for Climate Justice. The CSJ was developed from Dr. Osborne’s transdisciplinary research in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where they co-developed a high quality carbon offsets project with Indigenous peoples of Sarayaku, called the Kawsay Ñampi or Way of Life Project.

From its foundations, the CSJ is growing to include frameworks for equity-centered certification of nature-based project types, beginning with forestry. The Offsets Lab is partnering with Dr. Osborne to seek funding, assemble additional researchers, and steward partnerships to develop a novel monitoring, reporting, and verification framework for the CSJ relative to Improved Forest Management. This partnership is part of The Offsets Labs’ IFM Focus Initiative, but also serves multiple, larger goals for underserved communities and threatened forests.

The Offsets Lab is honored to work with the Climate Justice Standard to scale and replicate transdisciplinary research on carbon offsets to improve outcomes, with input and leadership from local community and indigenous partners such as Shelterwood Collective, Movement Strategy Center, and the National Indian Carbon Coalition.

Read more about The Climate Justice Standard, including a case study of the Kawsay Ñampi project.

If you are a researcher focusing on community-centered and transdisciplinary approaches to carbon offsets, we want to hear from you. Please reach out to mleigh@secondnature.org to tell us more about your work and explore opportunities for networking and partnership.