Knowledge

Frequently asked questions

For forest owners

Forest Carbon Projects

  • Forest carbon projects are activities that aim to increase net carbon stocks in forests and/or reduce greenhouse gas emissions from forests to help mitigate climate change.

    This can be achieved through protecting existing forests, planting new forests, improving forest management, restoring degraded forests to enhance carbon sequestration - or a combination. 

    Forests already act as powerful "carbon sinks," absorbing CO₂ and storing it in trees, soil, and vegetation, but with new technology and the right incentives these ecosystem mechanisms can be significantly boosted.

    In Noora, we reward forest owners for participating in forest carbon projects that generate certified carbon credits.

  • Yes! You can be rewarded from forest carbon projects through the sale of carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market!

    At Noora, we help professional forest owners access new revenue streams by implementing high-impact forest carbon projects that generate certified carbon credits. We take care of the entire process - from project design and monitoring to carbon credit certification and trading on the voluntary carbon market. The forest owner receives the majority of the revenue over the project period, while a modest portion covers verification, monitoring, and Noora’s facilitation.

  • Forest Carbon Projects rely on collaboration among several important groups:

    • Professional forest owners: The primary stakeholders in forest carbon projects. They own the forest and carry out activities to protect forest health and maintain and/or amplify carbon storage.

    • Carbon crediting  programs: Organizations that set the rules, guidelines, and standards for the verification and certification of carbon credits, such as The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) or The Gold Standard (GS). They facilitate a registry to transparently list information about the projects and issue, retire, or transfer carbon credits. 

    • Validation and verification bodies (VVB): An independent third party auditor that validates the project plan, and verifies that the GHG emissions reductions and removals claimed by a project are real, additional, and meet the certification criteria of the carbon crediting program. 

    • Corporate Partners: Purchase carbon credits voluntarily to take responsibility for their ongoing or historical emissions (e.g. unabated emissions), meet corporate environmental goals and contribute to global net zero.

    • Project Developers: Companies (like Noora) that initiate, design, plan and execute carbon projects. They are responsible for all aspects of the project, including feasibility studies, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the project, ensuring that the project meets the standards of the carbon crediting program and the VVBs. They also facilitate partnerships between forest owners and buyers, and/or the sale of the carbon credits.

  • There are three primary types of forest carbon projects, each targeting specific environmental goals:

    1. Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation (ARR) - Establishing new carbon sinks by planting trees on non-forested land or restoring degraded forests

    2. Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) - Preventing forest loss and emissions by protecting forests from being converted to other land uses

    3. Improved Forest Management (IFM) - Increasing carbon uptake and storage and prevent emissions, by using practices like extension of rotation age, thinning or managing competing species to protect and amplify the forest carbon sink and its CO₂ uptake

  • At Noora, we specialize in Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects, helping forest owners enhance carbon sequestration and reduce emissions while generating additional revenue. Our approach focuses on extending forest rotation ages, allowing trees to grow longer and absorb more CO₂ before harvesting. This not only increases carbon storage but also provides forest owners with a new income stream through carbon credits, complementing traditional timber revenues.

    Through our platform, we offer data-driven insights to help forest owners assess the suitability of their land for carbon projects, calculate potential carbon credit earnings, and seamlessly manage the entire process—from project design to monitoring and verification.

    Noora has plans to expand the portfolio with additional forest carbon project types in the near future. Stay tuned to learn more about our upcoming initiatives.

  • Forest carbon projects offer forest owners a new revenue stream while promoting sustainable land management and climate impact. Here’s how you can benefit:

    • Earn additional income – By enrolling in a forest carbon project, you can earn carbon income based on the amount of CO₂ your forest captures and stores. The carbon credits creates a steady financial return, as an alternative or supplement to traditional timber revenues.

    • Diversify revenue - By participating in forest carbon projects, you can reduce reliance on timber markets and create a diversified income stream.

    • Support climate action & sustainability - Forest carbon projects can help mitigate climate change by sequestering CO₂ and/or protecting valuable ecosystems. Participating in these projects allows you to contribute to global sustainability efforts, while helping businesses meet their corporate climate goals.

    Note that the specific benefits of forest carbon projects vary based on factors such as project type, forest conditions, and contract terms. Before entering an agreement, we carefully assess each forest area to determine project suitability.

  • Beyond the benefits for the forest owner, these projects can bring additional environmental and social advantages, creating a broader impact. Depending on the type of forest carbon project, benefits can include promoting biodiversity, safeguarding water resources, supporting local economies, and improving forest health and yield through better management practices.

    Forest carbon projects align with several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: 

    • SDG 13 (Climate Action) – Forests help mitigate climate change by capturing and storing CO₂, or prevent forest loss and emissions from deforestation. 

    • SDG 15 (Life on Land) – Sustainable forestry can support biodiversity, prevent deforestation, and restore degraded ecosystems. These projects can also enhance environmental and recreational value for local communities, which is great for health and well-being. 

    • SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) – Carbon credit programs provide financial incentives for forest owners and communities, promoting more sustainable livelihoods.

    • SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production) - Improved Forest Management in commercial forests can increase timber yield per hectare, helping to meet rising timber demand sustainably while reducing pressure on natural forests.

Common concerns

  • No. Carbon projects are designed to complement sustainable forestry, not replace it. You maintain ownership and decision-making power over your forest. However, once you commit to the contract period, you will need to follow certain rules and guidelines, but you will be actively involved in the entire planning process.

  • Yes, but it depends on the project type. For Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects, you can still harvest timber, but only after the project period has ended. During the contract period, logging is restricted to ensure maximum carbon sequestration. However, selective thinning and other forest health measures may be permitted, depending on the project’s specific guidelines.

    Once the agreed-upon project period ends, harvesting can resume as planned, and a new forest must be planted. This approach allows forest owners to balance economic benefits from timber production with carbon credit earnings and maximal climate impact.

  • Forest carbon projects require a long-term commitment, typically 20-100 years, to ensure climate benefits are real and lasting. This depends on the project type and selected method, and will be agreed upon in the final contract.

  • Natural disturbances like storms, forest fires, pests, or disease outbreaks are always a risk. However, forest carbon projects are designed to account for these uncertainties through built-in safeguards:

    1. Carbon buffer pool – Noora’s projects follow industry standards that set aside a portion of carbon credits in a reserve pool. This acts as insurance, ensuring the project remains credible even if unexpected losses occur.

    2. Monitoring & adaptive management – Once a project is registered, our technological platform will continuously monitor and report on the project's climate impact using remote sensing, satellite imagery, and field assessments to track forest health and respond to potential risks quickly.

    If a major disturbance occurs, we work closely with forest owners to evaluate the impact and determine the best course of action to maintain the integrity of the project.

General questions

Carbon Credits

  • A carbon credit is a certified unit that represents one metric tonne of carbon dioxide (CO₂), or an equivalent amount of other greenhouse gases, removed from Earth's atmosphere. It can also represent the same amount of avoided emission, for example by postponing harvest or reducing burned wood.

    Under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, projects are issued unique carbon credits known as Verified Carbon Units or VCUs. Each VCU represents a reduction or removal of one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) achieved by a project.

    NB! Carbon credits are part of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), and should not be confused with carbon allowances, which are linked to compliance markets (such as the EU ETS). You can read more about the different types of carbon markets, and the difference between carbon credits and carbon allowances here.

  • Carbon credits are the financial mechanism that makes forest carbon projects viable. When forest owners commit to (for example) improved forest management practices that increase carbon uptake and reduce emissions from their forest, we can generate carbon credits that can be sold to companies looking to take responsibility for their emissions.

    In Noora, we make it easier for forest owners to access carbon income as a supplement or alternative to their current carbon income. Through our data-driven platform, forest owners can easily assess the potential for carbon income from their forest areas.

    Noora manages the entire process, from assessing the suitability of the forest to issuing carbon credits, ensuring that projects are certified according to international standards and verified by an independent third-party auditor.

    Once a project is underway, our technological platform will monitor and report on the project's climate impact. This is essential for maintaining the project's integrity and for the carbon credit buyers - who might want to demonstrate to their employees, investors, and partners that they have contributed to global climate impact through local climate projects.

  • Carbon credits must go through a rigorous certification process to ensure that their climate impact is real, accurately quantified and additional - meaning that they deliver a benefit that would not have happened without carbon revenue.

    The process is overseen by internationally recognized carbon standards, like the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), which use science-based methodologies to ensure projects meet strict criteria. Here's how it works in simple steps:

    1. Project design: The project developer submits a detailed plan that outlines how carbon will be captured or reduced through the carbon project (eg. Improved Forest Management project).

    2. Third-party validation: Independent auditors (often referred to as validation and verification bodies or VVB’s) assess whether the project design plan meets the scientific standards and is likely to result in real, additional emissions reductions and/or removals of CO₂.

    3. Monitoring and reporting: The project is monitored over time to track the actual carbon sequestration or emissions reductions. Data is continuously gathered and verified through satellite monitoring, field measurements, and other reporting tools.

    4. Verification & issuance of carbon credits - Third party auditors (VVBs) come back regularly to verify whether the claimed carbon reductions and/or removals align with the project plan. If successful, carbon credits are issued and recorded in a public registry for sale - such as the Verra registry.

  • A carbon market is a trading system where carbon credits or carbon allowances are issued, sold and bought. The goals is to create economic incentives for reducing and removing greenhouse gas emissions. There are two main types of carbon markets: compliance markets and voluntary markets.

    You can read more about the different types of carbon markets, and the difference between carbon credits and carbon allowances here.

  • Businesses and individuals can purchase carbon credits voluntarily to contribute to global climate action and to take responsibility for historical or unavoidable emissions (e.g. unabated emissions).

    If done right, the carbon credits help fund credible, ambitious and additional climate projects outside their operations. This approach, called “Beyond Value Chain Mitigation” (BVCM), represents a way for companies to make a genuine contribution to global climate efforts through local projects, without replacing or delaying their efforts to reduce emissions within their own value chain.

    While rapid decarbonization of corporate value chains are essential to achieve societal net-zero, there is still an urgent need for near-term climate action to curb emissions globally. Carbon credits can help finance much-needed climate mitigation globally, ideally through local projects with additional co-benefits for nature.

  • Carbon offsetting is a specific use of carbon credits, where the aim is to compensate or counterbalance for a company’s residual emissions by purchasing carbon credits. This has often been part of a strategy to claim carbon neutrality.

    However, this approach has raised legitimate concerns, as several projects on the voluntary carbon market have been of low or varying quality. Companies purchasing carbon credits of low quality have been criticised for sidestepping or delaying efforts to reduce emissions within their own operations. They also risk overstating their climate impact and making misleading claims to stakeholders.

    To avoid greenwashing, leading frameworks such as The Science Based Targets initiative, WWF/BCG and the Gold Standard/Milywire recommend that, companies should shift away from traditional offsetting and, instead, communicate their voluntary carbon credit use as as contributions toward our shared, global climate goals and local environmental responsibilities. This is often referred to as “contributions” or “beyond value chain mitigation” (BVCM).

Nature-based Solutions

  • Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are actions to protect, restore or manage ecosystems in ways that benefit both people and nature. Nature-based solutions address challenges that are critical to sustainable development, such as climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity loss, food and water security, disaster risk reduction and human well-being.

    Examples of NBS include preserving or restoring forests to enhance biodiversity, restoring wetlands to buffer local communities from flood waters or improving forest or soil management to enhance absorb more CO₂ emissions.

    In Noora we believe in nature-based solutions to human-made problems so deeply that it has become our vision. Protecting and amplifying nature is essential to tackling the climate and nature crises we face today. Our vision is a commitment to undo the damage we’ve caused as humans and take responsibility for the future of our planet.

  • Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) address challenges that are critical to sustainable development such as:

    • Climate change mitigation: Protecting and amplifying nature’s ability to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere, delivering near-term climate action to curb emissions globally.

    • Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction: Helping ecosystems and communities in adapting to a warming world by mitigating the worst effects of climate change (e.g extreme weather, flooding, wild fires) and enhancing resilience to future climate risks.

    • Food and water security: Facilitating access to safe, nutritious food, medicines and clean water, for all living things.

    • Human well-being: Offering recreational value and promoting mental and physical health, while reducing the spread of diseases linked to habitat destruction.

  • Nature-based solutions (NbS) are highly relevant in carbon markets as they contribute significantly to both climate change adaptation and mitigation. Natural ecosystems have the potential to provide up to 30% of the mitigation needed to limit global warming, making them an effective tool in global climate strategies.

    Our ecosystems inherently provide solutions for carbon capture and storage, through natural processes in forests, peatlands, oceans and more. With appropriate financial incentives, such as carbon credits, the scale and impact of these solutions can be significantly accelerated.

    The voluntary carbon market (VCM) can help scale nature-based-solutions by channeling finance from private sectors into high-quality projects that effectively reduce or remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. Carbon credits serve as the mechanism to quantify and verify the climate impact of these solutions.

Carbon Removal

  • Carbon removal, or carbon dioxide removal (CDR), refers to methods of sequestering or removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing it. The captured carbon can be stored in various reservoirs, including geological formations, forests, soil, or products, depending on the chosen method.

    There are both natural and technological approaches to carbon removal. Natural methods include actions like planting trees, while technological solutions involve innovations such as Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS). You can read more about carbon removal projects, and how they differ from carbon reduction projects here.

    A critical requirement for CDR is that the removal must result directly from human intervention and go beyond the Earth’s natural carbon sequestration processes. For example, a forest that regenerates without human involvement would not qualify as CDR.

  • Extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common as the effects of climate change intensify worldwide. The main contributing factor is the excessive release of CO₂ released into the atmosphere due to human activities.

    In order to limit global warming, the scientific community emphasizes the urgent need for significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, alongside proactive efforts to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere (International Panel On Climate Change (IPCC)).

  • Currently, approximately 2 Gigatonnes (Gt) of CO₂ are removed from the atmosphere each year, with 99.9% of this achieved through traditional nature-based methods.

    To stay within the 1.5°C warming target outlined in the Paris Agreement, annual CO₂ removal will need to increase to 7–10 Gt by 2050 — and this is assuming that drastic emissions cuts are already underway. Achieving this goal is a massive challenge, and it requires collective effort, with both nature-based and technological solutions for carbon removal working in tandem.

  • We prioritize nature-based carbon removal because it is a proven, scalable, and cost-effective method for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere, capable of delivering near-term impact.

    While engineered solutions will be crucial for achieving long-term climate targets, they are still in early stages of development and require significant advancements to scale effectively in the coming decades.

    Nature-based methods are essential in the short term, as they do not rely on energy inputs or technological breakthroughs, enabling near-term action. Moreover, these methods provide additional benefits, such as protecting ecosystems, preserving biodiversity and supporting local communities - helping to address both the climate and nature crises simultaneously.