30 Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities representative organizations and leading rights-based organizations endorsed a technical submission to improve social integrity in the ART TREES standard.
As the jurisdictional carbon market standard body ART (Architecture for REDD+ Transactions) concludes its public comment period of the new draft of TREES 3.0, thirty Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Community representative organizations and rights-based allies have come together once again to urge the ART to strengthen the social safeguards central to the standard. Their joint submission calls for stronger requirements for early and informed consultation and for free, prior, informed consent; inclusive governance structures that give Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities real decision-making power; and clearer,stronger protections of rights, supported by more effective oversight to ensure that jurisdictional REDD+ programs operate with true social integrity.
Jurisdictional REDD+ programs are increasingly being promoted by governments as central to meeting climate and forest protection commitments, yet the success of these programs depends on the full and effective participation of the communities that manage the world’s tropical forests. The signatories emphasize that while the new draft TREES 3.0 published in August includes welcome advances—such as the recognition of women, youth, and Afro-descendant Peoples—critical gaps remain in how consultation, consent, and full participation are defined and, crucially, verified.
Building on a letter sent by many of the signatories to ART in December 2024, this submission offers detailed technical recommendations to address those gaps and to guide Validation and Verification Bodies in assessing government compliance with the standard. Its three priorities—early and meaningful consultation, equitable participation in all aspects of program governance, and stronger oversight of safeguard implementation—reflect partners’ collective experiences living and working in territories being included in national or jurisdictional REDD+ programming. The recommendations also call for ART to facilitate a co-development process of practical safeguard implementation guidance with the represented Indigenous and community representatives, the deployment of which could set a new benchmark for transparency and accountability in carbon markets.
Joint Submission to the TREES 3.0 Draft Standard Review
