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SOCIAL CARBON

WHAT IS SOCIAL CARBON ?

Social Carbon is an international standard and methodology designed to ensure that carbon offset projects deliver not just greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, but also meaningful social, environmental, and economic benefits to local communities and ecosystems.

Social Carbon is a Standard that certifies carbon reduction projects for their contributions to sustainable development. The standard includes six aspects of project sustainability and is known as the Social Carbon hexagon. Each component of hexagon includes carbon and biodiversity as well as social, financial, human, and natural components. The standard uses a set of analytical tools that assess the social, environmental, and economic conditions of communities affected by emission reduction projects and measures sustainable development contributions through continuous monitoring. Another key element is the active participation of local communities to ensure stable and beneficial outcomes.

WHY SOCIAL CARBON?

Social Carbon is chosen as a standard for carbon projects because it goes beyond simple emissions reductions to ensure that climate action also delivers meaningful social, environmental, and economic benefits. Here are the main reasons why Social Carbon is valued:

  • Focus on Nature-Based Solutions and Local Participation: Social Carbon is unique in its exclusive focus on nature-based solutions and it emphasizes the involvement of local communities in project design and implementation, recognizing that lasting climate solutions must benefit and engage the people directly affected.
  • High Integrity and Flexibility: Social Carbon’s methodologies are regularly updated to reflect best practices, and the standard is known for its high integrity and ability to adapt quickly to different political and social contexts. This flexibility allows projects to be tailored to local realities while maintaining rigorous standards.
  • Improved Living Conditions: The standard ensures that emissions reductions are achieved in ways that improve the welfare of stakeholders, strengthen community resilience, and value traditional knowledge-without degrading the local resource base.
  • Helps project developers identify potential areas for project improvement and measure the impacts of such improvements.
  • Provides opportunities to involve local stakeholders, enabling them to partake in the benefits from carbon-offset projects.
  • It can be implemented alongside any other carbon accounting standard (e.g. VCS, CDM, or others) and may be adapted to suit different types of projects, including hydropower plants, landfills, fuel switching, forestry, and others.
Contact us to find out how KBS can support you with Social Carbon services.
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