Carbon Removals vs. Avoidance

The Role of Mature Tropical Forests in Carbon Removal — and How It Differs from Avoidance Credits.

As carbon markets evolve to meet increasingly ambitious climate targets, most attention has gone to carbon removals from engineered solutions or reforestation.


Yet the largest — and most overlooked — carbon-removal system is already operating.


Mature standing tropical forests remove billions of tonnes of CO₂ every year — in real time

Not future removal. Not hypothetical avoidance.
Actual atmospheric carbon removal.

They are:

⦿ 7–10× more cost-effective than ARR

⦿ Up to 100× more affordable than engineered solutions

⦿ Doing it at scale today

However, mature forests have traditionally been categorised under avoidance credits, by protecting them from deforestation and releasing carbon, limiting their recognition as a critical carbon sink and frontline removal solution.

Download the overview to learn how technologies for atmospheric measurement of actual removals are redefining the role of mature tropical forests — and how it differs from traditional avoidance approaches.


Explore more topics on our Resource page

 

Understanding Removal vs. Avoidance in Carbon Markets 1 (1)