SEOUL: In a show of regional climate cooperation, senior forestry officials from Nepal, Indonesia, and Viet Nam met in Seoul this week to advance high-integrity forest carbon markets aimed at protecting Asia-Pacific’s rich forest landscapes while promoting sustainable livelihoods.

The high-level roundtable, co-organized by UN-REDD and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) during Global Green Growth Week, focused on helping countries transition from readiness to results — unlocking finance for verified forest carbon outcomes under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.

“Protecting forests and building credible carbon markets are two sides of the same coin,” said Gabriel Labbate of UNEP’s Climate Mitigation Unit. “Asia-Pacific countries are demonstrating how forest conservation can restore ecosystems, sustain livelihoods, and build trust in climate finance.”

Across the three participating countries, more than 230 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in potential forest mitigation outcomes are being prepared for verification — a major regional step toward carbon-positive, community-driven conservation.

Nepal is preparing to verify approximately 20 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent under its ART-TREES and FCPF programmes, while exploring a broader jurisdictional initiative that would cover nearly 3 million hectares of forest. The move marks a shift from donor-dependent REDD+ payments to sustainable, market-based climate finance.

Indonesia leads with up to 200 MtCO₂e of potential jurisdictional reductions under assessment through national and provincial programmes, and Viet Nam is validating around 25 million tonnes across 11 provinces.

The discussions also examined innovative finance models such as the proposed Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) — a new mechanism offering per-hectare payments for maintaining standing forests — designed to attract long-term, high-integrity investment into forest conservation.

With COP 30 approaching, participants emphasized that scaling forest carbon markets can help countries both meet climate goals and support rural livelihoods, reinforcing the role of forests as a bridge between environmental integrity and economic opportunity in the region.