0035 - Piloting the concept of “Twin Regions” in Benin to boost sustainable natural carbon sequestration and facilitate its adoption at scale for the benefit of women, youth, and the environment.

Tackling the climate crisis requires removing significant amounts of carbon from the atmosphere in the coming years. Passive reforestation has the greatest potential for carbon removal of all available technologies and positively affects biodiversity and microclimate, bolstering resilience. A major obstacle to realizing this potential is the unequal distribution of the necessary financial resources on the one hand and suitable land on the other.

Wealthy areas in the north do not have enough land, and southern regions cannot realize their carbon sequestration potential due to poverty. On the contrary, they are cutting down their forests to cope with the acute lack of money.

The concept of Twin Regions (https://twinregions.earth) uses the complementarity of different locations to overcome situational constraints and obstacles.

Typically, a region with a low standard of living, low emissions, and high nature-based carbon sequestration potential is combined with a region with a high standard of living, high emissions, and low carbon sequestration potential.

Implementing the concept requires a framework fostering trust and enabling adoption at scale. To develop it, key issues relating to carbon stock change monitoring, governance, accountability, and environmental and social impacts need to be clarified through research and experimentation.

The proposed project aims to clarify key issues, learn from first-hand experience, and develop a framework that will facilitate the adoption of the concept in other regions.

Over the past two years, we collaborated with local stakeholders from Kouandé and Copargo to agree on the modalities for piloting the concept in six selected areas, 1km² each. The population is rewarded with 20 to 50 € per Mt of sequestered carbon.

Field measurements and satellite images will be analyzed using AI to monitor changes in carbon stocks and other ecological parameters in a more reliable and timely manner. Surveys will help to assess the socio-economic impact.