M002

Standing Forests and Our Planet’s Future

The world’s forests are our most powerful natural allies against climate instability and ecosystem collapse. Covering approximately a third of all habitable land, they regulate rainfall, store vast amounts of carbon, harbour rich biodiversity and support the livelihoods of millions of people. Despite their importance to address climate change, current rates of forest loss and degradation continue to outpace global efforts to protect them. Every year, on average, an area of forest roughly the size of Portugal disappears. There is an urgent need for high-integrity, equitable tools to make forest conservation fairer, more transparent, and more effective at the scale and speed the world urgently requires. Equitable Earth brings together Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPs and LCs), global expertise, and cutting-edge science to deliver solutions fit for this scale and urgency.

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Core Innovations of M002 and the Equitable Earth Programme

M002 is a next-generation forest conservation methodology for Avoiding Unplanned Deforestation and Degradation (AUDD), designed to turn commitments into tangible, equity-centred outcomes. It builds on the foundational work of the original Equitable Earth Coalition formed in 2023, uniting over 125 Indigenous leaders, conservation experts and scientists to design next-generation approaches for protecting forests and supporting those who steward them. This collaborative, community-centred legacy remains at the core of what M002 is today: a new, independently-governed, ICVCM-aligned methodology that sets the bar for forest conservation that is rigorous, equitable, and transparent. It integrates three key innovations that address present challenges while anticipating future needs.

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✓  Elevating Rights and Livelihoods

Safeguards for IPs and LCs are central to M002 and the Equitable Earth Programme, which place equity and participation at the core of conservation. A dedicated Livelihoods Pillar establishes measurable requirements for protection, engagement, and benefit sharing, ensuring conservation efforts strengthen social integrity and lead to fairer, more trusted, and more impactful outcomes.

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✓  Standard-Level Carbon Accounting and Performance Monitoring

Under M002, Equitable Earth takes responsibility for emissions reporting, not the developer. We centralise biomass-change calculations and monitor deforestation and degradation using a standardised approach with advanced remote sensing and risk modelling, ensuring transparent, consistent crediting that builds confidence across the market.

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✓  Comprehensive Coverage of Forest Loss and Degradation

Overlooking the full scale of forest degradation, which historic approaches have
struggled to capture, fails to reflect substantial emissions. M002 leverages advanced technology to monitor changes in biomass. This approach explicitly includes both deforestation and degradation with conservative, standardised, and consistent rules. This guarantees credits accurately reflect total forest loss, raising the environmental integrity and impact of conservation projects.

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