1. The Nature Conservancy REDDex Cancun 13-16 July 2010 Manual for the Social Impact Assessment of Land- Based Carbon projects Dr Michael Richards, Forest Trends (Katoomba Ecosystems Services Incubator)

2. What do buyers want? The Forest Carbon Offsetting Survey 2009

3. Background Literature review: revealed lack of clear guidance/ road map on social impact assessment (SIA) for carbon project developers Consortium of 4 NGOs formed to develop Manual Manual linked to the CCB Standards Donors: World Bank PROFOR, GEF-UNDP, Morgan Stanley, NORAD, USAID

4. Manual objectives Main objective: User friendly guidance for project developers on how to conduct credible and cost-effective Social Impact Assessment (SIA) Sub-objectives: Strengthen & deepen application of CCB Standards Increase socio-economic benefits, and avoid negative impacts via good practice SIA Increase stakeholder engagement Contribute to adaptive project management

5. Some key challenges for SIA ‘Attribution’: social benefits must be additional – caused by project Nature of social impacts: long-term, unpredictable (-ve or +ve), indirect Cost-effectiveness: transaction cost; high cost of traditional SIA methods (US $50-150K) Paucity of research data on social impacts

6. Additionality and attribution With-project scenario Social Conditions Attributable impacts Without-project scenario Time CCB Standards: net and ‘additional’ (to ‘without project’) social impacts

7. Proposed Social Impact Assessment (SIA) Stages SIA Stage1: Original conditions study and stakeholder identification SIA Stage 2: Social reference scenario (‘without project’ situation) SIA Stage 3: Project design and theory of change (‘with project’ situation) SIA Stage 4: Negative social impacts and mitigation measures SIA Stage 5: Selection of indicators of positive social change (WHAT to measure?) SIA Stage 6: Monitoring plan and data collection methods (HOW to measure?) SIA Stage 7: Data analysis, reporting & stakeholder verification

8. Additionality at CCB Validation stage SIA Stage 3: Project design and theory of change (G3) Expected impacts Social Conditions SIA Stage 2: Social reference scenario (G2) Time SIA Stage 1: Original Conditions Study (G1)

9. SIA Stage 3: Project design & theory of change Causal model or theory of change: the project’s hypothesis of how it will achieve its social objectives If short tomid term outcomes can be identified, and then linkages to impacts -> good chance of impacts happening Assesscausative linkages/assumptions between outputs, outcomes and impacts via developing IF … THEN statements. Then monitor whether linkages or assumptions hold true in reality

10. SIA Stage 5: Selection of indicators WHAT tomeasure? Indicators Clearsocial objectivesordesiredresultsare essential Bestto use causal model:indicatorsshould capture keylinkages SustainableLivelihoods Framework Communitydecidedevaluationindicators SMART indicators

11. SIA Stage 6: Community Monitoring Plan HOW to measure? Data collection methods for measuring the indicators Toolbox: Part II of Manual Participatory data collection methods are essential for credibility & cost-effectiveness

12. Some good practice guidelines for SIA Invest in early technical assistance - SIA design Invest time in clarifying social objectives and how to achieve them using causal model or theory of change approach Invest time in selecting indicators Use participatory data collection methods Keep the stakeholders informed ‘Appropriate imprecision’ – tell a convincing story with some data (indicators) to back it up. More of an Art than a Science!

13. Timeline for developing the SIA Manual Field testing phase – ‘hands-on’ and ‘hands-off’ - July to November Spanish translation: early August Training workshops: Peru, Tanzania Peer review comments: Aug – Oct. Analysis of field testing: Nov/Dec Revision & publication in early 2011

14. Accessing Manual and contact details www.forest-trends.org/ publications.php Please send comments or feedback on SIA Manual to: mrichards@forest-trends.org spanfil@climate-standards.org THANK YOU!