Framework for assessing justice and equity impacts of nature-based solutions projects

Nature-based solutions (NbS) present a promising approach for protecting biodiversity while meeting ambitious climate targets, but there is growing international concern that they are sometimes linked to significant justice and equity concerns. Current reporting practices often require only superficial descriptions of how projects approach justice and equity issues, which are challenging to verify and lack consistency and transparency. As a result, some projects fail to address critical justice issues, leading to a wide range of undesirable outcomes on communities. This draft document describes the framework developed by the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits for evaluating the justice and equity impacts of NbS projects in tropical and/or developing regions. It enables a semi-quantitative assessment of NbS projects based on their justice and equity claims and the weight of evidence provided. The assessment framework is categorised into four sections: 1) Free, prior and informed consent; 2) Communication and grievances; 3) Governance and participation; and 4) Project benefits. The assessment criteria covered in this framework aim to capture the key elements of a just and equitable community-based NbS project, underpinned by the principles of distributional, procedural, and contextual equity. It is intended to be applicable to most NbS and land management projects using as evidence only project design and monitoring documents, in combination with publicly available resources and direct communication. We hope this framework will encourage NbS projects to pursue more just and equitable actions and enhance transparency in reporting of these actions.