High-Integrity, High-Impact: France's Vision for an Effective Voluntary Carbon Market at COP30

France has seized climate leadership on multiple fronts. In April 2025, the country launched the Coalition for Paris-aligned and high-integrity use of carbon credits, establishing high-quality as the fundamental criterion for effective carbon markets. France simultaneously joined in June 2025 the Kenya-Singapore-UK Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets and champions bridging the gaps between three Rio Conventions (Climate, Biodiversity, Desertification).

The stakes could not be higher. With atmospheric CO₂ exceeding 420 ppm and developing countries needing at least $1.3 trillion annually for climate action by 2030, the decisions made now on Article 6.4 will determine whether carbon markets become inclusive mechanisms for global climate finance or remain limited in scope and participation. The voluntary carbon market has spent two decades building knowledge about integrating carbon, biodiversity, and social outcomes — this experience must inform, not be abandoned by, new frameworks.

Two decades of integrity, ready to scale

The voluntary carbon market's two-decade journey has delivered the blueprint for scaling climate finance. Its hard-won experience has spawned today's integrity frameworks — the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) establishing Core Carbon Principles as quality benchmarks, the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) creating guidelines for credible corporate claims, and the G20 committing to transparency and interoperability. The market that was once niche now stands ready to drive mainstream climate action.

But scaling demands recognition: high-quality carbon credits inherently include environmental, social, and economic co-benefits. Carbon without co-benefits is not high-integrity.

Nature-Based Solutions and Engineered Removals — both/and, not either/or

At the global level, both Nature-Based Solutions and Engineered Carbon Removals must be supported through frameworks that match their maturity and scale potential.

Nature-Based Solutions are ready now: decades of proven methodologies, immediate deployment in threatened ecosystems, vital co-benefits for biodiversity and resilience — all at costs that make them essential for low- and middle-income countries.

Engineered Carbon Removals are essential for the future: Direct Air Capture (DACCS), Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS), and mineralisation offer centuries-long storage for residual emissions, but face significant cost barriers and limited scale today.

The market must recognise this complementarity: Nature-Based Solutions as the cornerstone of near-term action, Engineered Carbon Removals as critical long-term investments requiring innovation and targeted support.

France's two priorities at COP30

France must champion two priorities at COP30:

• Nature-Based Solutions and Engineered Carbon Removals should be equally promoted, with frameworks relevant to their maturity and scalability.
• High-quality carbon projects must be defined not only by their climate integrity but also by their socio-economic and biodiversity co-benefits.

1. Equal promotion of NbS and Engineered Removals

The IPCC indicates that limiting warming to 1.5°C will require 12-15 gigatonnes of carbon removals annually by mid-century, alongside deep emissions reductions. This demands immediate deployment of proven solutions while accelerating emerging technologies.

Nature-Based Solutions play a crucial role in the near term. With methodologies developed and refined over more than two decades, they are supported by robust safeguards that ensure social integrity and biodiversity protection. This makes them the most effective channel for mobilising private finance to vulnerable communities, safeguarding ecosystems approaching irreversible tipping points, and strengthening resilience to climate impacts already locked in.

Current estimates place Nature-Based Solutions at a clear cost advantage of US$10–50 per tonne of CO₂, compared to US$600–1,000 for direct air capture technologies. For many countries in the Global South, this combination of affordability and development benefits makes Nature-Based Solutions indispensable.

At the same time, Engineered Carbon Removals such as DACCS, BECCS, and mineralisation offer long-term storage lasting for centuries. These technologies will be essential to neutralise residual fossil emissions that cannot be eliminated through abatement. Yet today, they remain expensive and limited in scale, contributing less than 0.1% of total carbon removals worldwide.

Rigid, one-size-fits-all definitions of permanence could unintentionally disadvantage Nature-Based Solutions compared to Engineered Carbon Removals. Overly restrictive rules could reduce participation, limit market liquidity, and increase costs — especially for actors in the Global South.

2. Socio-economic and biodiversity co-benefits as fundamental

Research demonstrates that integrated approaches deliver superior outcomes. A systematic review in Frontiers in Environmental Science showed that 88% of Nature-Based Solutions interventions for climate adaptation also benefited ecosystem health, with an average 67% increase in species richness. These projects produce a "triple benefit" for climate, biodiversity, and society.

Critically, these co-benefits predominantly flow to the Global South, where Nature-Based Solutions projects are most viable and impactful. The Global South holds the majority of the world's biodiversity hotspots, tropical forests, and carbon-rich ecosystems.

Brazil's Law 15.042/2024 builds on this foundation, mandating community benefits for carbon projects covering REDD+, forest conservation, and sustainable forest management. The Brazilian COP30 presidency emphasises that adaptation is "no longer a choice, but a necessity" — Nature-Based Solutions deliver both mitigation and adaptation simultaneously.

France should therefore advocate that high-integrity carbon credits, by definition, deliver:

• Environmental value beyond carbon: biodiversity protection, ecosystem health, and climate resilience.
• Community benefits: employment, capacity building, and equitable benefit-sharing.
• Sustainable development alignment: measurable contributions to relevant SDGs.

Toward COP30: France's leadership opportunity

France stands at a pivotal moment. The voluntary carbon market has matured, integrity frameworks are in place, and COP30 in Brazil offers the perfect platform to champion inclusive climate finance that builds on two decades of proven experience rather than fragmenting into competing markets.

The path to COP30 is clear:

• Champion pragmatic permanence requirements that enable Nature-Based Solutions participation.
• Ensure co-benefits are recognised as fundamental to carbon integrity, not optional extras.
• Promote coalitions to develop a high-integrity carbon market across all regions.
• Demonstrate leadership through French public and private investments aligned with these principles.

France's visionary Charter has set the stage. The message for Brazil is unambiguous: carbon markets succeed when they recognise the full value of climate solutions — their contributions to biodiversity, communities, and sustainable development. France must ensure Article 6.4 delivers on this promise.