The Risks of Nature Commodification
May 16, 2025
Nature For Justice provides social performance and safeguarding consultancy services to nature-based solutions project developers, investors / funders, and implementers. Our services ensure that projects are fair, inclusive, and sustainable—reducing risk, enhancing credibility, and delivering durable benefits for communities and ecosystems.
Robust social performance and safeguarding approaches—from an initial assessment of project social risks to how community stakeholders are engaged and consent to the project—are foundational to ethical and sustainable nature-based solutions projects, particularly where Indigenous Peoples and local communities are directly or indirectly impacted. We support projects to be socially just, community-aligned, and compliant with international social performance and safeguarding standards.
We work across a range of nature-based solutions project types, including carbon and biodiversity crediting, payment for ecosystem services, regenerative agriculture, forestry, and conservation. Whether you’re developing new projects or supporting existing ones, we help ensure communities are protected, respected, and empowered from the outset. We also support underperforming or contested projects to diagnose challenges and co-create context-appropriate solutions that rebuild trust, participation, and community ownership.
We assess social risks and impacts to inform project design and operational strategies that enhance benefits and reduce harm. Our approach is inclusive, gender- and culturally-sensitive, and aligned with leading environmental and social management standards. We develop tailored social management systems and safeguards to improve project quality and accountability.
We provide hands-on support to implement stakeholder engagement and FPIC processes. This includes facilitating meaningful community participation, managing community–investor relationships, and embedding social safeguards throughout the project lifecycle to minimize risk and ensure community alignment.
We support partners in designing stakeholder engagement strategies that reflect strong Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) principles. Our approach emphasizes transparent disclosure, inclusive and gender-sensitive dialogue, and context-appropriate consent mechanisms. We also build capacity for local partners to manage evidence trails and handle conflict resolution.
We deliver targeted training for project developers, implementing partners, and communities on FPIC, community engagement, and social safeguarding. Through our trusted local networks, we help build skills and relationships that support durable project success and community-led outcomes.
A robust approach to social safeguarding mitigates reputational, financial, and legal risks by aligning with human rights frameworks and the requirements of donors, lenders, and certification bodies.
Strong project social performance opens access to emerging markets, climate finance, and values-aligned investors by demonstrating responsible, ethical engagement with communities.
Our services help projects meet the social requirements of carbon and biodiversity standards, boosting credibility and investor confidence.
Inclusive approaches improve community trust, ensure fair benefit-sharing, and strengthen long-term commitment—maximizing project impact and sustainability.
Early, respectful engagement builds relationships and avoids costly delays or resistance. By embedding social safeguards from the start, projects move more smoothly from planning to implementation.
Nature For Justice brings global expertise and deep local understanding to every engagement. Our regional leads – based in Africa, Canada, the U.S., and Central America – deliver tailored support across diverse geographies and project types.
Whether you need strategic advice, capacity development, or full-service implementation, we help you design and deliver projects that protect nature, empower communities, and meet the highest standards of social and environmental integrity.
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