This desktop review examines the social performance of carbon-offsetting projects in the Global South with the objective of informing the design of an Indigenous-led carbon project based on the conservation of the Alto Mayo Awajún forests in the Peruvian Amazon as proposed by the FERIAAM, the Federacion Regional Indigena Awajun del Alto Mayo, and Conservational International.

In this review, we adopt the methodology of selecting projects from international databases and registries that meet the following four criteria: (a) projects must be in regions of the Global South and based on the conservation or restoration of natural environments, (b) projects must be founded on community consultation and participation in decision-making, (c) project zones must include the ancestral lands of Indigenous people, and (d) evidence of poverty reduction and contributions to sustainable development must be a reporting requirement.

Part I of the review gives a thumbnail sketch of carbon-offsetting schemes, with a focus on the voluntary schemes that have proliferated since the turn of the millennium. Four schemes are identified that place an emphasis on social performance, termed “enhanced schemes”.

Part II examines projects in the enhanced schemes. Applying the four criteria reduces the approximately 4000 projects in the schemes to seventeen cases. A traffic light system is used to summarise how well each project fares against best practice, together with a rating on Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation.

Part III draws advice for good practice from the cases in the form of eight lessons learned and makes suggestions for the Awajún carbon project.