Effectively communicating nature-based carbon contributions in 2026
- Oct 29, 2025
- 8 min read
You’re a good person, genuinely trying to do good for the planet. You work for a company that doesn’t stop at reducing emissions it also considers investing or already invests in restoring and conserving nature. Yet you might be wondering how to communicate these efforts without falling into the traps of greenwashing or public skepticism. If that sounds familiar, this guide is for you.
The year 2026 marks a turning point for corporate climate transparency, especially in Europe.
For companies offsetting their residual emissions, particularly through nature-based carbon capture solutions, this shift signals the beginning of a new era of scrutiny. Vague claims about being “eco-friendly” or “net zero” are no longer sufficient. Recent examples, such as Apple’s “net zero” marketing case in Germany, or the most recent case of Total Energies, illustrate how even the most powerful brands can face legal and reputational risks. Going forward, your communication must rest on verifiable data, audited impacts, and legally mandated transparency.
Nature-based solutions (NBS), actions that protect, restore, and sustainably manage ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, and mangroves, are a cornerstone of global climate action. Science shows they could provide up to 37% of the emission reductions needed by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement targets. Their potential is immense, but so are their complexities. Implementing, monitoring, and communicating these projects requires both scientific rigor and strategic sensitivity.
As we approach 2026, the stakes for businesses have never been higher. Successfully navigating this new landscape will determine whether your company becomes a leader in the nature-positive economy, or is instead flagged, fined, and forsaken for overstating its environmental achievements.
This guide aims to help you master nature-based carbon contributions in this transformative period. It will provide a blueprint to avoid both greenwashing and green-hushing, and show you how to communicate an authentic story of impact, one that goes far beyond simple carbon accounting.
I. Navigating the credibility minefield: avoiding greenwashing and green-hushing
In this era of heightened scrutiny, credibility is the ultimate corporate asset. Its two greatest threats are greenwashing, saying too much, and its timid cousin, green-hushing, saying too little.
Greenwashing is the act of misleading stakeholders with exaggerated, false, or incomplete information about your environmental performance. It’s claiming "net-zero" without a credible scientific pathway or placing a "sustainably sourced" label on a product without robust, lifecycle-wide evidence. The EU’s upcoming Green Claims Directive will put legal teeth into combating these practices, demanding that all environmental claims be substantiated with verifiable proof.
Green-hushing, conversely, is the deliberate choice to downplay or remain silent on sustainability initiatives for fear of being accused of greenwashing. While born from caution, it is equally damaging. It erodes public trust, creates an information vacuum that allows bad actors to dominate the conversation, and slows collective progress by hiding successful models from view.
To navigate this minefield, your communication strategy must be built on a foundation of radical transparency and verifiable action.
Prioritize reduction, then compensate for the rest: The most credible climate claim starts with decarbonizing your own value chain. The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Net-Zero Standard is clear: companies must achieve a 90% reduction in emissions by 2050. Nature-based carbon credits should be used to compensate for the residual 10% of emissions that are technologically unavoidable. Any communication that frames offsets as a substitute for internal reduction is a greenwashing red flag.
Be specific and factual: Vague claims are dead. Replace "we're committed to the planet" with “our mangrove restoration program in Indonesia captured 30,000 tonnes of CO₂ and restored 1,200 hectares of coastal ecosystems in 2025.” Use quantifiable metrics and concrete data points.
Embrace third-party verification: Your claims are only as strong as their proof. Investing in nature-based projects certified under high-integrity standards like Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) or the Gold Standard is non-negotiable. These independent audits validate that the carbon reductions are real, measurable, permanent, and additional (meaning they wouldn't have happened otherwise).
Report successes and failures: Trust is built on honesty. Share your progress, but also be transparent about challenges, missed targets, and lessons learned. This fosters an authentic dialogue and demonstrates a genuine commitment to improvement, not just a polished PR narrative.
Adopt a holistic view: Don’t spotlight a minor improvement while ignoring a major negative impact. A credible strategy assesses the entire lifecycle of your operations and addresses your total environmental footprint.
Having established the ground rules for credible communication, we can now turn to the most powerful part of the NBS story: the immense value they create beyond carbon.
II. Beyond carbon: communicating and leveraging the co-benefits of nature
Focusing solely on tonnes of CO₂ sequestered is like describing a masterpiece painting by only its dimensions. The true value of high-quality nature-based solutions lies in their rich tapestry of co-benefits, the positive impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, and human communities. Communicating these benefits is the key to unlocking the full strategic value of your investment.
Focus on hard data.
Talk about the CO₂ emissions captured or avoided: This remains one of the most significant impacts of your investment or purchase. It is far from a minor detail — your action plays a crucial role in reducing CO₂ in the atmosphere, the main driver of climate disruption. You can be proud to have contributed to mitigating — and hopefully soon reversing — this trend.
But that’s not all.
Talk about permanence and resilience: The long-term stability of stored carbon is a critical quality differentiator. High-integrity Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are designed for resilience, employing strategies like biodiverse species selection and active community stewardship to safeguard against fires, pests, and disease. While no solution offers a 10,000-year guarantee, a well-designed project embedded within a supportive local economy creates the most durable carbon sink possible, ensuring your climate impact endures for generations.
Talk about biodiversity and ecosystem : Biodiversity is rapidly becoming a primary indicator of carbon credit quality. By 2026, expect the widespread adoption of new standardized metrics for measuring biodiversity impact. You can already use powerful tools to put numbers to nature's work. For instance, the Verra Nature Framework enables projects to quantify biodiversity outcomes and generate Nature Credits, representing one quality hectare equivalent of biodiversity uplift from a baseline as a result of the project intervention.
Talk about alignment with Global Goals: Frame your investment of carbon credit buying within the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Does your mangrove restoration project investment contribute to SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) by creating jobs in conservation? This alignment provides a globally understood framework for your contributions.
Talk about the human story: Behind every high-integrity NBS project are people. Take the Delta Blue Carbon Project in Pakistan, one of the world's largest mangrove restoration efforts. Beyond sequestering millions of tonnes of carbon, it provides sustainable livelihoods for over 42,000 people, protects communities from storm surges, and revives vital fish nurseries that support local economies. This is the story that resonates with employees, customers, and investors alike.
Talk about community resilience as a cornerstone of permanence: The long-term security of carbon stocks is inextricably linked to the well-being of local communities. When projects deliver tangible economic benefits—from sustainable harvesting and ecotourism to direct employment—they foster a powerful, vested interest in the ecosystem's health. This community-level ownership is the single greatest guardian against deforestation and degradation, transforming local populations from potential threats into active, long-term guardians of the project's climate and biodiversity goals.
Indigenous Rights and NBS: A non-negotiable foundation The most successful and resilient nature-based solutions are those designed and stewarded in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities. They are the guardians of 80% of the world's remaining biodiversity. A rights-based approach that ensures that your money goes to project with well strcutured free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) and equitable benefit-sharing. It is a critical factor in project permanence and success. Any investment strategy must prioritize projects that empower, not displace, local communities.
By articulating this holistic value proposition, carbon mitigation coupled with biodiversity uplift and community empowerment, you transform your NBS contribution from a simple line item on a carbon ledger into a strategic investment in systemic resilience.
III. Addressing the realities: controversies, challenges, and debates
No discussion of nature-based carbon contributions is complete without an honest look at the challenges that have, at times, plagued the market. Acknowledging these issues is not a sign of weakness; it is a mark of a sophisticated investor and a prerequisite for choosing truly high-integrity projects.
The most significant debate revolves around the quality and integrity of carbon credits. High-profile investigations have raised valid concerns about some projects, particularly older ones, overstating their climate impact ("over-crediting"), failing the "additionality" test (funding activities that would have happened anyway), or lacking guarantees of "permanence" (the risk that a restored forest could burn down). These criticisms have correctly pushed the industry to improve. In response, standard-setters like Verra have released major methodological updates to enhance rigor and address these very issues.
Furthermore, profound ethical concerns must be addressed. Poorly designed projects, particularly those without deep community engagement, have risked displacing local populations or creating inequitable benefit-sharing structures. This reinforces the non-negotiable importance of prioritizing projects that are community-led and uphold human rights.
These realities do not invalidate the promise of nature-based solutions. Instead, they serve as a powerful filter. They underscore the absolute necessity of rigorous due diligence, a commitment to the highest-quality verification standards, and a focus on projects that deliver transparent, equitable, and multifaceted benefits. The controversies weed out the weak, leaving only the most robust and impactful opportunities for discerning investors.
IV. Your blueprint for nature-positive leadership
The era of easy environmental claims is over. The age of impact is here. For corporate leaders and investors, 2026 is not an end point, but a starting line. Success no longer hinges on what you promise, but on what you can prove. Nature-based solutions remain one of our most powerful tools for climate action, but only when pursued with unwavering integrity.
Your blueprint for leadership is clear:
Audit your approach: Critically assess your existing nature-based strategy. Does it prioritize deep decarbonization first? Is it aligned with emerging standards like the TNFD?
Invest in unimpeachable quality: Partner with experts to identify and fund only those projects with the highest levels of third-party verification, proven permanence, and deep community co-benefits. (Hello we are Apolownia and we do that)
Embrace radical transparency: Build your communications on a foundation of specific, verifiable data. Report your successes, own your challenges, and tell the whole story.
Become Nature-Positive: Shift your ambition from simply doing less harm to actively regenerating the natural systems upon which all economic value ultimately depends.
The question isn’t whether nature-based investments matter, it’s whether yours will be credible, resilient, and impactful enough to thrive in the new age of accountability.
ABOUT APOLOWNIA
Apolownia is a mission-driven company committed to making a significant impact in the climate sector.
We support businesses and funds willing to engage in long-term and impactful decarbonization strategies - within and beyond their own value chain - by designing, implementing and monitoring science-based carbon reduction projects that restore natural ecosystems.
Through technology and innovative solutions, we aim at shaping a resilient and environmentally friendly world, by encouraging the decarbonization of the economy and supporting social and environmental initiatives.
You can drive positive change for the climate, biodiversity and local communities.
Contact us to engage or for more information.
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