Voluntary buyers around the world paid to offset the equivalent of 84.1 million (M) tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2015, a 10% increase from 2014, led by private-sector companies taking proactive steps to reduce emissions ahead of regulation, according to a new report from Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace (EM).

Voluntary buyers around the world paid to offset the equivalent of 84.1 million (M) tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2015, a 10% increase from 2014, led by private-sector companies taking proactive steps to reduce emissions ahead of regulation, according to a new report from Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace (EM).

Carbon offsets are increasingly seen as a tool to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as mitigate climate change, according to a new report from Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace (EM), Not So Niche: Co-benefits at the Intersection of Forest Carbon and Sustainable Development.

Companies and governments around the world committed US$705 million in new finance in 2014 to enhance the role of forests in combating climate change, according to a report released by Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace, Converging at the Crossroads: State of Forest Carbon Finance in 2015.

With the effects of climate change already being felt from New York City to New Delhi, the fight to keep global forest carbon stocks intact, to improve forest management, and to reforest degraded land is more vital than ever. Too often, trees are worth more cut down than standing.