Private sector participation in REDD+ advances one of the world’s most important climate change mitigation strategies and makes good business sense. Many private sector actors are financing REDD+ and/or purchasing Verified Emissions Reductions precisely because it enables them to “do well by doing good.”

REDD+ can create lasting business value while preserving tropical forests, empowering rural and indigenous communities, protecting endangered plants and animals, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Corporate Social Responsibility

REDD+ helps companies achieve their CSR goals by connecting social and environmental commitments to global institutional development for sustainable land use and economic growth.

Environmental Sustainability Goals

REDD+ is ultimately a natural capital investment, preserving forest ecosystems, and the services they provide. An investment in REDD+ helps companies meet their environmental goals while also protecting the world’s most valuable carbon sinks.

Additionally, most REDD+ projects support several SDGs, including climate change, biodiversity, poverty alleviation, education, health and sanitation, and clean water, among others.

Brand Value

Corporate investors and buyers leverage their involvement in REDD+ to build thought and brand leadership in environmental sustainability; attract top-tier talent; and strengthen their industry position. REDD+ improves the visibility of corporate commitments to environmental sustainability across industry associations, capital markets, governments, and civil society.

Stakeholder Engagement

Corporate commitments to REDD+ demonstrate environmental and social commitments to customers, employees, partners, financiers, shareholders, and regulators. Regions where REDD+ is being implemented – across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia – are critical to where many industries source, operate, and sell. REDD+ investments can be leveraged to acquire new and retain existing customers, build brand loyalty and advocacy, improve employee morale and retention, and address stakeholder concerns about environmental risk management and a company’s social license to operate.

Public Relations & Marketing

Companies who invest in REDD+ can effectively and meaningfully communicate their participation in global efforts to stop deforestation and its consequent greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, they can also tell the stories of the lives impacted and uplifted, of the habitats and animals preserved, and of the new sustainable development opportunities created. Effective and sincere communication about the benefits of REDD+ can increase customer retention, acquisition, advocacy, and brand loyalty.

New Product Development

REDD+ provides an opportunity to responsibly launch carbon-neutral and/or conservation themed products. Companies involved in REDD+ have already launched product lines with corresponding marketing campaigns. These have proven to increase customer acquisition and demonstrated ROI results. New innovative products can revitalize an aging product line, endear a new line to a younger, more environmentally conscious audience, garner favorable attention from customers and consumers, and build a more loyal audience.

Improved Access to Financial Capital

International financial institutions increasingly require project finance performance standards around biodiversity, climate, and social impacts. REDD+ investments in regions where companies operate demonstrate corporate commitments to meeting updated lending standards and can more cost-effectively enable them to achieve regulatory requirements related to biodiversity conservation and community engagement.

Biodiversity Conservation

Tropical forests are home to more than half the world’s species of plants and animals. Biodiversity loss poses a very real threat to the sustainability of business and commerce. Tropical forest conservation is therefore becoming an increasingly prominent goal of many business stakeholders. Commitments to REDD+ can  help protect biodiversity relevant to a company’s operations and improve a company’s social license to operate in tropical countries.

Natural Capital Investment

REDD+ is a natural capital investment in the world’s most threatened, high conservation value forest ecosystems. By quantifying and valuing the carbon storage services that forests provide, REDD+ creates an institutionally-backed market for ecosystem service investments and natural carbon sinks that mitigate industrial emissions reductions.

Host Country Goodwill

REDD+ integrates and aligns with national development priorities (especially in Least Developed Countries) and works closely with government agencies in host countries to achieve these goals. REDD+ investments in regions where companies operate demonstrate long-term commitment to host country’s communities, ecosystems, and development – enhancing shared public-private goals and operations.