An international coalition of forest-based companies – representing more than 31 million hectares (76 million acres) in 38 countries across all six forest-growing continents – has called on COP30 to ensure that forest rules are included in the Article 6.4 Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, a key step in bridging the financial gap for forest conservation and restoration.
“Forests and ecosystems are not optional—they are essential to achieving our climate goals,” according to Ross Hampton, the CEO of the International Sustainable Forestry Coalition (IFSC), who has joined with environmental organisations in pushing for land-based solutions to be included in the process.
On Monday, Hampton outlined a series of policy priorities, including science‑based permanence standards, monitoring requirements tailored to actual project risks, flexible liability arrangements such as insurance and buffer pools, and risk‑proportionate safeguards that balance environmental integrity with economic feasibility.
In addition, Hampton’s IFSC has also called for transparent and inclusive decision‑making, extended public consultation, and meaningful engagement with Indigenous peoples, local communities, and technical experts: “Near‑term climate action cannot be sacrificed to address speculative tail risks centuries away,” Hampton said, before urging forward‑thinking nations to amplify their voices in support of nature‑based solutions within Article 6.4.
Last week, Wood Central revealed that parties to COP30 are now focused on implementing Article 6.4, which underpins the UN Carbon Market. Starting from Monday, November 10, and running through until this Friday, November 21, 2025, global leaders are gathering in Belém, Brazil, for the COP30 talks, dubbed by COP30 President-Designate André Corrêa do Lago as the ‘COP of implementation and adaptation’ and the ‘COP of truth’.
How do Carbon Markets Work?
Separate from the offsets trading model envisioned under the Paris Agreement, there are two existing types of carbon markets – compliance and voluntary. Compliance markets apply to companies and sectors where emissions cuts are legally mandatory. They operate in the European Union, California, and other countries, including New Zealand.
Rules vary, but they typically require companies to purchase a permit for every tonne of carbon they emit – effectively forcing firms to pay for polluting. The market for compliance emissions was worth more than US$865 billion last year, with the EU accounting for the vast majority of that sum. However, as identified under Article 6, the EU does not allow international offset credits. And whilst some companies, under no legal obligation to cut their emissions, have set voluntary targets, they can partially meet them by buying credits on a voluntary carbon market. In 2021, the voluntary market was valued at about $2 billion.
It remains unclear how various existing carbon markets might be integrated into the UN-run trading scheme, which would also depend on national laws. Some experts fear that voluntary credits sold internationally outside the Paris Agreement could result in two countries counting the same emission cuts toward their targets.
- To learn more about the agenda for COP30 and why the President-Designate, André Corrêa do Lago, is pitching a new megafund for tropical forests as a climate fix, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
