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Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits (4C)

We launched the Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits (4C) in early November 2021.  Our first goal is to scale up the supply of deforestation avoidance carbon credits in order to halt tropical deforestation as soon as possible. We have published software prototypes and original science on the topic.

Our Approach

The Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits (4C) is creating digital tools and a trusted, decentralized platform to help purchasers of carbon credits to confidently and directly fund trusted deforestation avoidance projects, bringing together corporate funders and conservationists via automated and transparent smart contracting tools.

  » Learn about our research

If you're a conservation organisation interested in using our digital carbon credits calculation platform to issue robust credits, please get in touch. We are currently operating on moist tropical forests, with a view to expanding out to other forests (seasonal dry, temperate, and coastal mangroves) in a future phase.

If you're a Web3 developer who wants to help with the development or integration of our Tezos smart contracts, then please see our prototype code and paper in ICBC2024.

Latest news

Managing reversal risks in nature projects

8 September 2024

Two peer-reviewed articles from 4C in the past few weeks have spun up discussions around the future of financing deforestation avoidance and afforestation projects. A commentary in Nature Sustainability on " Nature-based Credits at a Crossroads " discusses the principles that should form the basis of scientifically credit...

The Global Challenge

The world is facing simultaneous biodiversity and climate crises. Pressure is mounting from governments and the general public to rapidly roll out a global programme of well-executed nature-based solutions to sequester several giga-tons of carbon each year and protect biodiversity.

Over 100 world leaders at COP26 pledged to end deforestation by 2030. Our urgent challenge is figuring out how to verify that deforestation solutions are working, and tracking the associated carbon credits used to offset necessary emissions.