Cercarbono, a leading global environmental project certification standard, today announced the launch of a public consultation on its updated Integral M/LU-REDD+ Methodology (Version 3.0). This revision strengthens the technical and methodological foundation of REDD+ activities, ensuring consistency with international agreements under the UNFCCC while embedding safeguards to protect biodiversity and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

The updated methodology builds on a harmonization framework that allows project-level results to integrate seamlessly into jurisdictional and national systems. This “nesting” approach reduces the risk of double counting, reinforces transparency, and ensures compatibility with Forest Reference Emission Levels/Forest Reference Levels (FRELs/FRLs). By expanding the scope to cover both jurisdictional programs and projects, the methodology provides a unified, robust framework for delivering measurable and credible climate action across scales.

Methodological guidance has been enhanced to clarify baseline construction, requiring projects to document historical deforestation and degradation as inputs, and to adopt conservative assumptions that avoid overestimation. The update also incorporates advanced predictive models for estimating deforestation, offering developers greater technical accuracy while remaining transparent and traceable.

Safeguards are at the core of this revision. Activities certified under the methodology must demonstrate respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services, equitable benefit-sharing, and the effective participation of stakeholders in project design and implementation. In addition, the methodology establishes strengthened monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) requirements, aligned with national or jurisdictional contexts, ensuring clarity and consistency in results.

The public consultation will remain open until September 25th, and stakeholders from across the voluntary carbon market, civil society, and government are invited to review the draft methodology and share feedback. The consultation document is available in both English and Spanish, along with details on how to submit comments, at: https://registry.cercarbono.com/35.