Not all carbon is equal

Every ton of carbon has a story. This story matters. Explore what matters using the Landscape Capital Explorer.

In elemental terms, a ton of carbon is a ton of carbon.

However, every ton of carbon in the landscape has its own story - distinct characteristics, co-benefits, and risks. These features have the potential to add (or subtract) value. Scaling carbon markets and nature-based climate solutions (NbCS) requires a comprehensive understanding of these features and their role in valuing carbon.

We need to ensure both sustainable and equitable flows of capital to the people and the places on the ground that are responsible for action on NbCS. Carbon markets have tremendous potential but integrity, quality, and confidence are lacking.

What is the Landscape Capital Explorer?

The Landscape Capital Explorer is a platform for putting land-based carbon in its rightful context. It's an independent, science-based framework for assessing the potential of any tract of land to deliver nature-based climate solutions, including the range of climate mitigation, co-benefit, and conservation outcomes.

The Landscape Capital Explorer provides a basis for establishing standards for quality while assuring integrity and increasing confidence in the marketplace for carbon.

Understanding the Landscape Capital Index

The Landscape Capital Explorer is home to the Landscape Capital Index (LCI), a spatially-explicit index developed by Woodwell Climate Research Center. The LCI quantifies landscape quality, potential, and risk and can be applied at local to global scales. It is based on a hierarchical framework consisting of more than 40 geospatial datasets.

Represents the degree to which a parcel of land possesses exceptional woody biomass and/or soil carbon storage as well as ecosystem service co-benefits.

Current carbon

Ecosystem service co-benefits

Woody biomass carbon
Soil organic carbon

Biodiversity
Landscape integrity
Water cycling
Temperature regulation

Reflects the potential of a given parcel of land to store woody biomass and/or soil organic carbon, including both total potential storage and unrealized potential storage(defined as the difference between total potential and total current storage).

Potential carbon

Unrealized potential carbon

Potential woody biomass carbon
Potential soil organic carbon

Unrealized potential woody biomass carbon
Unrealized potential soil organic carbon

Estimates the potential of a given parcel of land to provide carbon sequestration or emissions reductions relative to a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario assuming a specific market-based intervention is undertaken. Additionality potential considers recent trends in forest loss as well as known pressures on current carbon storage.

Recent forest loss

Pressures on forests

Proximity to recent forest loss
Emerging hotspots of deforestation

Agricultural expansion
Urban expansion
Renewables
Fossil fuels
Mining
Protected status

A measure of the extent to which natural factors (e.g., changes in climate) and/or anthropogenic factors (e.g., changes in governance) are likely to promote the durability of any intervention. Put another way, the relative absence of risk that additional carbon sequestration or emissions reductions achieved following an intervention will be reversed due to either natural or human causes. A high component score represents low risk.

Risk of natural reversal

Risk of anthropogenic reversal

Wildfire risk
Drought risk

Governmental effectiveness
Political stability
Control of corruption
Rule of law
Regulatory quality
Voice & accountability

Landscape Capital Index

Biophysical Quality

Represents the degree to which a parcel of land possesses exceptional woody biomass and/or soil carbon storage as well as ecosystem service co-benefits.

Current carbon