Summary
This systematic review synthesises 69 empirical studies on voluntary carbon markets, providing a comprehensive taxonomy of VCM research across climate zones, geographical development contexts, and land-use categories. The authors identify urgent policy gaps applicable across all climate regions, note substantial differences in research quality and focus between Global North and Global South studies, and highlight the need to address gender inequities embedded in certain VCM-based projects. The work emphasises that effective carbon mitigation requires integrated consideration of financial viability, environmental integrity, and social feasibility alongside formal policy frameworks.
UK applicability
The review's findings on policy framework requirements and the need for context-specific land-use assessment are relevant to UK carbon accounting and climate policy. However, the study's emphasis on Global North–Global South disparities and gender dimensions may have limited direct applicability to UK implementation, though findings on financial and socio-economic project design could inform UK VCM governance.
Key measures
Classification of studies by climate zone and region; Global North versus Global South research comparison; land use categorisation; thematic analysis of empirical methods; gender dimension assessment in VCM projects
Outcomes reported
The study systematically analysed 69 empirical studies on VCMs, categorising them by climate zone, Global North/South perspective, and land use type. It identified critical gaps in policy frameworks, gendered dimensions of VCM projects, and disparities in research focus between developed and developing regions.
Topic tags
Dig deeper with Pulse AI.
Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.