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Plan Vivo Certificates are much more than just carbon….

Plan Vivo projects support smallholders and communities by selling Plan Vivo Certificates. One Plan Vivo Certificate represents the long-term sequestration or reduction of one tonne CO2e, plus a host of other benefits:

Poverty reduction and livelihood development
Restoration of degraded ecosystems and biodiversity conservation
Adaptation of communities and natural and managed ecosystems to climate change (e.g. via watershed protection, soil stabilization)

Download ‘Plan Vivo Certificates: Frequently Asked Questions’

What is a Plan Vivo Certificate?

An environmental service certificate

representing the long-term sequestration or

reduction of one tonne CO2e, plus additional

environmental and social benefits:

· Biodiversity conservation through

expansion and strengthening of protected

areas and native species

· Poverty reduction and sustainable

livelihoods through sustainable agriculture

and micro-enterprises

· Restoration of degraded and degrading

ecosystems

· Adaptation of natural and managed

ecosystems to climate change (watershed

protection, soil stabilization, regulation of

regional micro-climates)

Why purchase Plan Vivo Certificates?

Fairly traded carbon

Plan Vivo projects work with poor rural communities who need support to manage their land more sustainably. Buying Plan Vivo Certificates puts money into the pockets of poor farmers and community groups like farmers cooperatives, women’s groups and community trust funds – helping communities develop and providing incentives for them to stick with their land management plans - their ‘plan vivos’.

Making carbon finance work harder

Plan Vivo projects work with communities who face challenging environmental issues and hardship, who would otherwise lack the financial, technical and organisational ability to implement long-term land-use activities. They emphasise the restoration of natural ecosystems and planting of native trees, which makes ‘carbon finance’ work harder, and ensures projects benefit biodiversity as well as mitigate climate change.

Tried and tested

Plan Vivo is a tried and tested system, used in projects since the 1990s, based around the idea of empowering people to manage their resources. Risk management is built into every stage:

Community-led planning of activities, based on local needs and capabilities;
Staged implementation and performance-based payments linked to successful monitoring;
Diverse portfolios of areas and multiple species;
Buffers of unsold carbon maintained to cover risk of losses (risk pooled between projects)

Independent certification and continued oversight

Projects are subject to annual reviews and third-party verification to ensure continued conformance to the Plan Vivo Standard. Plan Vivo Certificates are recorded and tracked through the independent Markit Environmental Registry.

Past and present purchasers include: Antalis, Arla Foods, Blue Green Carbon, Camco, Ceramica Sant Agostina SPA, City of London, Classic Africa Safaries, the Coop, CO2Focus, Creative Artists Agency, Embassy of Denmark, DFID, Enviromarket, EValue, FIA Foundation, Folksam, Global Cool, Hambleside Danelaw, IIED, Its the Planet, Live Climate, Man Group, Marks and Spencers, Max Hamburger, Nedbank, Piqqo, Puma, Reforestamos Mexico, One World International, Save the Children, Tetra Pak, U&W, Uganda Carbon Bureau, World Bank…

Plan Vivo Certificates