iRise Presents Community Engagement Strategy at COP 29

In November 2024, iRise Carbon took to the global stage at the 29th Conference of the Parties — COP29 — held in Baku, Azerbaijan. In a session attended by senior climate diplomats, international investors, and development finance leaders, iRise shared the story and strategy behind one of Africa's most ambitious community-integrated carbon programmes: a reforestation initiative in Malawi that is redefining what high-integrity climate action looks like at the grassroots level.

A Global Conference at a Pivotal Moment

COP29 arrived at a critical juncture for the voluntary carbon market. With the finalisation of Article 6 rules under the Paris Agreement — establishing the framework for international carbon trading — and intensifying scrutiny on the integrity of nature-based carbon credits, the conference was a focal point for policymakers, project developers, and corporate buyers all seeking clarity on the future of carbon finance.

Against this backdrop, iRise Carbon's participation was not only timely — it was a statement. The programme's grounding in Verra's rigorous VM0047 methodology, its community-first design, and its transparent monitoring and verification framework positioned it as exactly the kind of project that the voluntary carbon market needs more of: one that can withstand the highest levels of scrutiny while delivering measurable impact at scale.

The Session: Opened by Ismail Serageldin and HE Dr Joyce Banda

The session was opened by two figures of enormous stature in the worlds of global development and African climate leadership. Ismail Serageldin — former Vice-President of the World Bank, founder of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and one of the most respected voices in sustainable development globally — set the intellectual context: the need for climate finance mechanisms that go beyond tokenism and deliver genuine, lasting transformation in developing economies.

Her Excellency Dr Joyce Banda — former President of Malawi, Africa's second female head of state, and a lifelong champion of women's rights and community empowerment — brought the perspective of lived experience. As someone who led Malawi through economic crisis and championed grassroots development from the highest office in the land, Dr Banda's presence underscored the deeply human dimensions of what iRise is attempting to achieve.

“The solutions that will transform Africa's climate future are not going to come from the top down. They will be built from the ground up — by communities, for communities, with global support and global accountability. iRise Carbon represents exactly that kind of solution.”

— HE Dr Joyce Banda, Former President of Malawi

Presenting the Community Engagement Strategy

At the heart of iRise's COP29 presentation was the programme's community engagement model — the framework through which local smallholder farmers in Malawi are not just participants in a carbon project, but active economic beneficiaries of it.

The presentation detailed how iRise identifies and onboards community members as paid tree custodians, how payments are structured to incentivise long-term stewardship rather than one-off planting, and how the programme embeds accountability mechanisms at the community level to ensure that survival rates remain high and carbon sequestration targets are met.

Critically, the model was presented not as a charitable intervention but as a commercial one: a structure in which community welfare and carbon market performance are mutually reinforcing. The better communities care for the trees, the higher the survival rates, the greater the sequestration, and the more revenue is generated — a portion of which flows back to the communities through the programme's benefit-sharing framework.

• Smallholder farmers engaged as paid custodians, not just labourers
• Sustained income payments tied to ongoing tree survival and forest health
• Community benefit-sharing built into the carbon credit revenue structure
• Independent monitoring and transparent reporting at all stages
• VM0047 methodology ensuring internationally recognised credit quality
• Scalable model designed to be replicated across other districts and countries

The Importance of Partnerships and International Cooperation

Dr Banda's address to the session placed iRise's work within the broader context of what Africa needs from the international community: not charity, but structured partnerships that give African nations and communities the tools, the finance, and the market access to lead their own climate solutions.

She emphasised the importance of tailored solutions — approaches that are built around the specific agricultural, cultural, and economic realities of the communities they serve, rather than generic templates imported from outside. iRise's deep integration with Malawian farming communities, she argued, is precisely what gives the programme its credibility and its durability.

The session also addressed the critical role of international carbon buyers in making programmes like iRise viable. Without demand for high-integrity nature-based carbon credits from corporations meeting their net-zero commitments, the financial model that sustains community livelihoods and funds continued reforestation cannot function. COP29 provided an important forum for making that connection — between the enterprise buyers in conference rooms in Baku and the smallholder farmers planting trees in Kasungu.

Article 6 and the Future of Carbon Markets

COP29 marked a landmark moment in the history of international carbon markets: the finalisation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which establishes the ruleset for country-to-country carbon trading and the governance framework for internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs). For project developers like iRise, the significance cannot be overstated.

The clarity that Article 6 provides — particularly around corresponding adjustments, which ensure that carbon credits are not double-counted by both the host country and the buying entity — strengthens the credibility of the voluntary carbon market as a whole. For iRise, operating under a Direct Carbon Agreement with the Government of Malawi, the Article 6 framework provides additional legal and commercial certainty that the credits generated under the programme will be fully recognised under the international climate architecture.

iRise Carbon's COP29 presence was, in many ways, a signal to the global market: a Malawi-based reforestation programme, built on community partnership and methodological rigour, is ready to operate at the highest level of the international carbon economy.

Looking Ahead

The visibility gained at COP29 has accelerated iRise Carbon's engagement with international carbon buyers, development finance institutions, and potential new market partners. The programme's subsequent selection for CEEZER's Carbon Coalition Accelerator — one of six projects chosen globally from 50+ applicants — is in part a reflection of the credibility and profile built through appearances like COP29.

As the voluntary carbon market continues to mature and raise its standards, iRise Carbon is positioned not just to participate in that evolution, but to help lead it — with a programme that was built from day one to meet the demands of the world's most discerning buyers.