Katingan Mentaya Project revised up from A to AA in BeZero Carbon rating
The Katingan Mentaya Project, which protects 149,800 ha of tropical peat swamp forest on the Indonesian island of Borneo, has been upgraded from A to AA by carbon project ratings agency, BeZero Carbon.
The independent ratings agency revised its original A rating following the publication of two reports from the project – the SDG Impact Report and the Fire Management and Mitigation Report. The new score puts the Katingan Mentaya Project in the top 1% of the 487 projects BeZero has rated so far, with a very high likelihood of achieving 1 tonne of CO₂e avoided or removed.
BeZero’s AA for the Katingan Mentaya Project joins the AA score the project received from Sylvera, another sector-leading ratings agency.
The role of the ratings agency in the voluntary carbon market is to provide independent objective analysis on carbon projects that is both digestible and comparable to help buyers and investors navigate the risks associated with this market. The score awarded to a project indicates a level of certainty that the credits represent a real measurable unit of avoided or removed carbon. Beyond buyer assurance, though, ratings are helping provide transparency and third-party expert assessment needed to demonstrate greater integrity across the carbon market.
Covering an area of peat swamp forest roughly the size of Greater London, the Katingan Mentaya Project was established in 2010 to prevent conversion of the land to acacia pulp and paper plantations and to protect against threats such as illegal deforestation and wildfires. The expanse of forest has substantial sequestration value, whilst acting as an important habitat for many threatened and endangered species, but its true climate benefit comes through the protection of the enormous carbon stores locked away in the deep peat soil.
The project, which is managed in partnership between PT Rimba Makmur Utama and Permian Global, has also been developed to deliver social and economic opportunities for approximately 50,000 people living in the 39 villages surrounding the forest area. The progress against its community improvement objectives is regularly audited and made public via the project’s Climate Community and Biodiversity verification, but it was also documented and explained in the project’s SDG Impact Report.
Among the project’s threat mitigation priorities is its fire management and mitigation strategy, which brings together data-driven risk mapping, high-resolution satellite monitoring, rapid response protocols, and comprehensive community training programmes. Details of the strategy are provided in the Fire Management and Mitigation Report, which helped provide BeZero with informational assurance to upgrade the project’s overall score.
Edward Rumsey, Managing Partner, Permian Global, said: “Expert-led project ratings have quickly become a vital part of the information infrastructure necessary to price and manage risk, grow the voluntary climate market, and scale credible climate action.
“We are pleased we were able to provide a greater level of detail on the activities in the project and delighted that this has resulted in an improvement in the Katingan Mentaya Project’s rating.”
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