From the Ground Up: Capturing carbon, protecting livelihoods
Luke Pritchard, Director, Beyond Alliance
A new film highlights how carbon market projects in the U.S. are restoring forests and tackling super-pollutants while building resilience and generating income for farmers and landowners.
When Alisha Logue inherited her grandmother’s farmland in Georgia, it felt like a dream. Soon, though, it became a financial burden. Faced with mounting costs, she joined a program run by the American Forest Foundation that pays families to restore forests on their land. Now, as she puts it, “we’re just watching the trees grow.”
Alisha’s story is one of several featured in From the Ground Up: Voices of the Carbon Market – a new film from the Beyond Alliance, an alliance of companies, NGOs, and technical experts driving climate solutions for business which is hosted by the Coalition.
The film follows American families who have chosen to make their land part of the climate solution — whether by planting pines, plugging abandoned methane wells, or restoring native forests. For them, these projects are about more than emissions reductions: they are about livelihoods, resilience, legacy and protecting what matters most.
These stories are unfolding against the backdrop of a global gap in climate finance. According to the UNFCCC, the world must mobilize around $6 trillion annually by 2030 to stay on track with the Paris Agreement.
High-integrity carbon markets are one way to scale that finance quickly, connecting corporate buyers, who want to take additional, interim action on climate as they work towards their longer-term decarbonization strategies, to real projects on the ground. Voluntary carbon markets are already channelling billions into climate solutions that would otherwise go unfunded. Globally, the rules are evolving. Under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, governments are finalizing how countries can trade emissions reductions, and standard setters like ISO and SBTI are evolving rules to determine how companies should be recognized and incentivized for the action they mobilize beyond their value chain.
This will shape how companies can support these initiatives and how benefits flow to businesses and rural and forest communities in the U.S. and beyond.
Integrity is key. The ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles and the VCMI Claims Code now give buyers the guardrails they need to invest responsibly. These frameworks are raising the bar on quality and credibility, helping companies accelerate climate action with confidence. To learn more about the Voluntary Carbon Markets, visit our VCM Knowledge Vault.
Stories from the ground
Premiering during Climate Week NYC, From the Ground Up: Voices of the Carbon Market is a reminder that climate finance is not just about abstract terms like accounting rules and frameworks – or even tons of carbon avoided or removed. It is about people making choices for their families and communities that ensure they can thrive into the future. The following stories show how new approaches can create the income sources and jobs that people need, while building healthier communities that people deserve.
Planting pines in Georgia
For Alisha, the American Forest Foundation program turned her land from a liability into a living asset. Families lease land to plant native loblolly pines and receive technical support to develop a forest management plan that allows for selective thinning and sustainable harvesting to improve forest health. Over a 30-year lease, the forest locks away carbon while providing stable income.
Plugging wells in Illinois
In Illinois, Wayne Wiltshire faced another kind of legacy: abandoned gas wells drilled decades ago, left to corrode and leak methane. Working with Tradewater, he had them safely plugged and capped. A ‘super-pollutant’, methane is a greenhouse gas that’s over 80 times more potent than CO2 over a 20 year period, so stopping those leaks is one of the fastest ways to slow warming. It also improves the quality of the air local people breathe. “The person that drilled that well is responsible for clean up afterwards,” Wayne recalls. “That wasn’t happening. It’s a common problem all across the U.S.”
Restoring forests in Louisiana
In Louisiana, Greg and Tricia Monier treasure weekends at their forest cabin — hunting, fishing, cooking, camping with family. When neighboring land went up for sale, they feared development. Instead, Chestnut Carbon bought it and began restoring native forests with oaks, hickories, and sweet gums. For the Moniers, it was a relief: “We share the same principles in preservation of our forestlands. It’s an added plus that they are improving the climate regime.”
Together, these stories show what high-integrity climate action looks like: practical approaches that improve lives and livelihoods.
As demonstrated in the film, carbon markets can provide new revenue streams for families, ensure abandoned infrastructure is cleaned up, and can restore ecosystems people depend on.
What companies can do next
For companies exploring the voluntary carbon market, the path forward is clearer than ever:
- Cut emissions first across operations and supply chains by setting and implementing science-based targets.
- Prioritize projects with strong co-benefits for livelihoods, biodiversity, and ecosystems.
- Collaborate with peers through initiatives like Beyond to share learnings and amplify impact.
By following these principles, companies not only accelerate their own decarbonization but also build resilience for this generation and the next.
The Beyond Alliance, is hosted by the We Mean Business Coalition and led by founding businesses Amazon, Disney, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Salesforce, and Workday, along with Environmental Defense Fund, United Nations Environment Programme, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF-US).