Climate Standard

Fairtrade Standard

Fairtrade International developed the Fairtrade Climate Standard, as a way to support smallholders and rural communities to produce Fairtrade Carbon Credits and gain access to the carbon market.

21327 Climate Cooking Stove Woman 870
Mulane works with an energy-efficient stove – one of 40,000 units distributed during a pilot project for Fairtrade Carbon Credits in Ethiopia. "The new cook stoves have brought us many benefits," explains Mulane. "Two trips of foraging wood lasts us for two weeks. This saves us time. We do not have a problem with the smoke anymore. A big difference is that the old way of cooking burned our legs and hands. These are much better. We are happy with them."
Image © Roger van Zaal

Fairtrade Carbon Credit projects enable producers to make their contribution to climate change mitigation while adapting to climate change.

The Fairtrade Climate Standard was developed in collaboration with the Gold Standard, an internationally recognized organization with expertise in climate and development projects. The Fairtrade Climate Standard is an add-on standard to Gold Standard certification of carbon emissions reductions and sustainable development benefits.

Principles underlying this Standard

  • Democracy and transparency: All producer participants in Fairtrade Carbon Credit projects have a voice and vote in the decision-making process of their organization. All terms and conditions of Fairtrade transactions are detailed in contracts signed by the producers and buyers.

  • A Fairtrade Minimum Price ensuring the average costs of running the projects are covered. This is an innovative addition to the voluntary carbon market, which provides a safety net to carbon projects.

  • Opportunities to adapt: A Fairtrade Premium is paid in addition to the payment for the Fairtrade Carbon Credits, which goes to producer organizations, who can decide how best to invest it to make them and their communities more resilient to climate change.

  • Capacity building: The Fairtrade Climate Standard offers producers a way to take a more active role in the carbon projects, through improving their climate change knowledge, developing project and carbon management skills, and taking on the running and development of their own carbon projects over time.

  • Labour conditions and environment: Projects are carried out respecting Fairtrade principles related to environmental and labour practices.

  • End-buyer emissions reductions: Those purchasing Fairtrade Carbon Credits at the end of the supply chain must put in place a credible plan to reduce their emissions and increasingly compensate their emissions with Fairtrade Carbon Credits.

To find out what the Fairtrade Minimum Prices and Premiums for Fairtrade Carbon Credits are, see the pricing database.

Download the Fairtrade Climate Standard

This standard applies to all Fairtrade certified operators producing and trading in Fairtrade Carbon Credits and is valid from 1 October 2015.

EN | Fairtrade Climate Standard

ES | Criterio de Comercio Justo Fairtrade sobre el Clima

FR | Standard Fairtrade sur le Climat

Explanatory documents

Fact sheet introducing Fairtrade Carbon Credits:

EN | Fact sheet

Pricing methodology document with information on how the Fairtrade Minimum Prices for Fairtrade Carbon credits were calculated:

EN | FCC price methodology

The Fairtrade Climate Standard applies to: Fairtrade Carbon Credit (FCC) producer organizations; project facilitators, who can support the producer organizations to implement the projects; traders, who buy and sell on the FCCs; and end buyers, who buy the FCCs to compensate their carbon emissions.

FCC traders do not need to additionally comply with the Fairtrade Trader Standard; all requirements for all FCC operators, including traders, are in this standard.

Fairtrade carbon projects focus on one of the following areas: energy efficiency; renewable energy; and afforestation/reforestation.

Projects must make use of approved carbon calculation methodologies, as detailed below:

EN | FCC approved carbon calculation methodologies