Equitable Earth

About Equitable Earth

Equitable Earth is a Paris-based carbon market standard-setter, founded in 2020, whose ICVCM-approved programme certifies conservation and restoration projects. It describes itself as the global standard for conservation and restoration projects on the carbon markets, independently governed and working in close partnership with Indigenous peoples, local communities, governments and project developers worldwide. The Equitable Earth Standard is built on next-generation digital MRV (measurement, reporting and verification) designed to verify impact on climate, biodiversity and livelihoods.

The organisation starts from the scale of the challenge: the world has some 4.06 billion hectares of standing forests to protect and more than 2 billion hectares of degraded land to restore, and reaching climate and biodiversity targets needs a clear pathway to scale high-integrity projects. Its standard sets out clear eligibility requirements, rigorous monitoring protocols and modern verification processes, and it leverages technology such as satellite data and digital monitoring to certify high-quality nature restoration and conservation projects.

The programme publishes methodologies, a registry and apps, validation and verification procedures, a fee schedule, internal policies, annual reports and public consultations on projects, the standard and methodologies. Governance includes a fiduciary board, a governing board and a technical advisory board, and independent validation and verification bodies audit projects. The website is available in English and Portuguese, and project developers can submit a project for certification.

Equitable Earth works with project developers who seek certification, with buyers and investors in the voluntary carbon market who want credible credits, and with stakeholders who give feedback on projects. As a carbon standard it earns fees for the certification and issuance services it provides, and it competes in the nature-based carbon credit market against other established standards on rigour, technology-enabled monitoring and community partnership.