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Interpreting SDG claims in voluntary carbon projects

  • Cara Howse
    Research Associate
  • Torrey Sanseverino
    Research Manager, Sustainable Development Goals
  • Dr Nick Atkinson
    Chief Science Officer
  • Natural Capital
Claims of impact towards UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are made by approximately half of projects in the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) to represent non-carbon project benefits². However, scaling the SDG framework, which was designed for national level reporting, to the project level is challenging. For some of the SDGs, weaknesses in the framework would have to be resolved for their effective application at subnational scale. Buyers should exercise due diligence when purchasing carbon credits with associated SDG claims.

Here are some key takeaways from the report

  • VCM projects with SDG claims are increasingly purchased¹. However, these claims are not consistently verified.

  • The SDG framework is designed to operate at a country level. This introduces complications for application at the individual VCM project level.

  • Caution is required in interpreting SDG claims attached to VCM projects, particularly in the context of meeting corporate ESG targets.

Contents

  • 01 Use of the SDG framework by the Voluntary Carbon Market

  • 02 Challenges in the use of SDGs

  • 03 Conclusion

  • References

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