Rooting impactful forest carbon benefit sharing in local definitions and understandings: Lessons learned from Vietnam

Forest carbon markets are increasingly promoted as a potential solution to reduce emissions and help countries meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement. However, concerns persist among key stakeholders – particularly Indigenous Peoples and local communities – about the extent to which they will benefit from these initiatives. Central to the debate is the question of benefit sharing: who should benefit and how should those benefits be distributed? In countries like Vietnam, this remains a pressing issue for policymakers, practitioners and local communities alike.

Various governments and carbon standard-setting bodies have developed guidelines of an ‘effective’ benefit-sharing mechanism. However, these frameworks are often top-down, heavily influenced by Western norms and disconnected from the lived realities and perceptions of local stakeholders. Using Vietnam as a case study, this paper explores how local actors conceptualize and define impactful benefit-sharing mechanisms. Our findings highlight a significant disconnect between international frameworks and local communities’ daily experiences and values. The paper argues for a re-grounding of benefit-sharing concepts that are responsive to multi-scalar perspectives and rooted in local understandings of fairness and impact. Only through such an approach can benefit-sharing mechanisms be considered truly just and effective.