In the Nordic region and worldwide, non-state actors are keen to contribute to global efforts to combat climate change in line with the Paris Agreement’s long-term goal to limit global warming to 1.5°C. However, they lack knowledge and capacity about the best practices for voluntary support for climate action and related communications and claims.
First and foremost, best practice requires all actors to prioritise reducing direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within their boundaries or value chains consistently with a 1.5°C pathway. In addition to internal efforts, best practice includes supporting mitigation also beyond the value chain. A popular option for channelling finance for such “beyond value chain mitigation” is the voluntary purchase of carbon credits from the voluntary carbon market. If best practice is followed, carbon credits can be a valuable tool for accelerating global climate efforts, and claims based on carbon credits could help consumers make more informed choices. However, without proper standards and oversight, the voluntary purchase and use of carbon credits risks being ineffective or even counterproductive to achieving global climate and sustainable development goals.
In 2021-2022, the Nordic Dialogue on Voluntary Compensation brought together Nordic stakeholders to develop a common understanding of current best practices for the voluntary carbon markets and recommendations for further Nordic cooperation. A key result was the co-creation of the Nordic Code of Best Practice for the Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits (“Nordic Code”). Recommendations included creating communities of best practice for learning-by-doing, building capacity on best practices, aligning and updating best practice guidance, and supporting the implementation of best practice. The Nordic Dialogue’s results and recommendations are summarised in the report “Harnessing voluntary carbon markets for climate ambition - An action plan for Nordic cooperation”, which was published in November 2022.
Since then, guidance and regulation have continued to evolve at the international and national levels. Due to popular demand, the Nordic Dialogue’s team launched a new project to support the implementation of the Nordic Dialogue’s results and recommendations, from August 2023 to September 2024. This project built capacity for the voluntary carbon market through a series of Nordic stakeholder events (see Table 1 for an overview). The events were designed to help Nordic stakeholders understand and implement best practices for voluntary carbon markets. They informed Nordic stakeholders about the latest international and national developments in the field and provided an interactive platform to discuss their implementation. While these events were mainly tailored for Nordic stakeholders, their insights are relevant across the world and were also shared with the international community via international webinars, the Nordic Dialogue website and this report. Like the Nordic Dialogue, this project was also implemented by Perspectives Climate Research in partnership with IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Carbon Limits, and Tyrsky Consulting, and funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Working Groups for Climate and Air (NKL) and for Environment and Economy (NME).