A Practitioner's Guide to Nature-Based Solutions

Topics

• Drawing on direct experience from Apple's environmental programs, WWF's global conservation work, Conservation International's project development, and other leading organizations, the course bridges the gap between academic knowledge and professional practice in the voluntary carbon market. Students will learn the full lifecycle of NBS projects through the eyes of the practitioners who build and develop these projects: from scientific foundations and carbon accounting, through project origination, investment structuring, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation, to corporate reporting and stakeholder communication. Each session pairs on the ground and corporate perspectives to help students understand how these two worlds interact, where they align, and where there are potential trade-offs.
• Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: • Explain the scientific basis for nature-based carbon projects and their role in meeting global GHG targets, and articulate the differences between key NBS project types (REDD+, ARR, IFM, blue carbon, soil carbon) • Critically evaluate carbon credit quality and the role of major standards (Verra VCS, Gold Standard, ART TREES) and the ICVCM Core Carbon Principles, applying both NGO developer and corporate buyer evaluation frameworks • Describe the end-to-end process of originating an NBS carbon project from the project implementation perspective, from feasibility and community engagement through methodology selection, PDD development, and registry listing • Analyze corporate NBS investment strategies, including fund structures, offtake agreements, supply chain partnerships, and the integration of NBS into broader decarbonization portfolios • Apply due diligence frameworks used by both project implementers and corporations to evaluate NBS projects and build diversified carbon removal portfolios • Navigate the corporate claims landscape (SBTi, BVCM, GHG Protocol, SEC disclosure) and articulate what distinguishes credible NBS commitments from greenwashing • Integrate community rights, biodiversity co-benefits, and climate justice principles into NBS project design, drawing on lessons from project implementation • Develop and present a realistic NBS project proposal that demonstrates understanding of both the NGO implementation pathway and the corporate investment case

Official catalogue course objectives and student learning outcomes