The Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCB) received a major boost last month, with the release of a new multi-million dollar call for project proposals for afforestation and reforestation projects that mitigate climate change.

POSCO (South Korea’s premier steel company, with 19,000 employees and $3.7 billion in 2004 net profit) and EcoSecurities (the world’s largest greenhouse gas advisory and trading firm) announced a call for Kyoto-compliant project proposals, giving preference to projects that meet the Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standards.

To qualify for funding, forestry projects (located in China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia or Brazil) need to demonstrate that they benefit local communities and sustainable development in general. This is the first time that a major call for forest-based proposals has set such qualitative criteria for project selection, using independently verified standards. It is expected that this will send a strong market signal to project developers about the value of designing projects using the CCB Standards, and result in the development of additional projects around the world that benefit communities, biodiversity and the climate.

The development of the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards was spearheaded by the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA)—a partnership among research institutions, corporations and environmental groups. CCBA members include CI, Hamburg Institute of International Economics, The Nature Conservancy, Pelangi Indonesia, BP, GFA Terra Systems, Intel, SC Johnson and Weyerhaeuser.

The Standards, released in May 2005, are the result of an intensive two-year development process, including outside input from academia, business, environmental organizations, and development groups; field testing on four continents; and an independent peer review.

Project developers can use the CCB Standards for designing and certifying multiple-benefit forestry projects. In addition, policymakers and investors can use the Standards as a screening tool to identify high-quality initiatives that deliver compelling climate, community and biodiversity benefits. For further information on the Standards, visit www.climate-standards.org.