Standard Chartered has been chosen by the State of Acre in Brazil as its partner to sell high integrity forest protection carbon credits. The agreement will run over the next five years with potentially five million credits coming to market in 2026.
The bank will be the exclusive seller of the credits, with the initiative expected to deliver economic, environmental and social benefits to the region and communities of Acre. Net funds generated will be allocated in the following way: 72% to indigenous and local communities for activities such as sustainable and low-emission livestock farming, reforestation of secondary forests, the creation of clearings without deforestation and sustainable community-based tourism. The remaining 28% will be used to finance project management and governance, such as forest management, monitoring and verification and emergency responses to extreme weather events.
The credits will be registered in the Architecture for the REDD+ Transaction, using its TREES methodology that has been approved by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market. They will also be jurisdictional forest carbon credits, which unlike project-based forest carbon credits cover an entire jurisdiction and are overseen by the government, helping to protect forests in the State of Acre from deforestation.
An independent assessment of Acre’s jurisdictional carbon credit programme is being conducted by Sylvera.