By: Juan Piedrahita and Juan Daniel Correa
At Clean Energy, we spoke with Francisco Ocampo, Executive Director of Asocarbono, one of the leading voices in today’s debate on the future of Colombia’s carbon market. The conversation explored the role of the association, the rise of biodiversity credits, and the challenges — and opportunities — facing this evolving climate ecosystem.
What is Asocarbono?
“Asocarbono is a non-profit, non-governmental association that brings together all actors across the carbon-market value chain: investors, communities, auditors, developers, certification programs, brokers, and verified buyers.”
“Our mission is to strengthen Colombia’s carbon markets by identifying shared interests among stakeholders and mobilizing financial resources that support biodiversity conservation.”
Asocarbono acts as a collaborative platform that connects project developers, evaluators, buyers, certifiers, and conservation actors. Its work focuses on building technical capacity, promoting transparency, and shaping public policy to ensure the integrity and credibility of carbon markets.
In recent years, the association has created multi-stakeholder spaces where communities, companies, academia, and government engage in dialogue to promote governance, inclusion, and traceability, ensuring that project benefits truly reach local territories.
What are biodiversity credits and what are they used for?
Biodiversity credits are instruments that recognize and certify actions to protect, restore, or regenerate ecosystems.
Unlike carbon credits, which quantify the reduction or capture of CO₂ emissions, biodiversity credits value the preservation of species, habitats, and ecological functions that sustain life.
The two mechanisms are deeply intertwined: carbon-capture projects — especially those based on nature-based solutions (NbS) — depend directly on healthy ecosystems and sustainable land management.
In that sense, carbon and biodiversity represent two complementary dimensions of climate action.
In Colombia, this connection is vital. Most carbon projects take place in tropical forests, wetlands, and Indigenous or Afro-descendant territories, where local communities protect vast areas of exceptional ecological value.
The integration of carbon and biodiversity credits thus appears as a natural step toward stronger, fairer, and more diversified environmental markets.
“Carbon projects — especially those rooted in nature — are inseparable from biodiversity.
The challenge is to reflect that complementarity through frameworks that integrate both markets, strengthen their integrity, and deliver tangible benefits for ecosystems and the communities that safeguard them.”
What is the future of the carbon market in Colombia?
Colombia’s carbon market is undergoing a period of transition and adjustment.
Over the past two years, regulatory uncertainty, government reviews of REDD+ projects, and a slowdown in registration and transactions have temporarily affected investment flows and the revenues reaching communities.
These measures — framed within the government’s policy of greater sovereignty and environmental control — aim to improve transparency, fairness, and accountability.
Yet they have also brought delays and tensions that have slowed the market’s rhythm.
The challenge now is to restore confidence and achieve a balance between environmental governance and the economic stability needed for projects and communities to continue generating real conservation outcomes.
Even so, the country’s structural strengths remain intact: extraordinary biodiversity, committed communities, robust technical expertise, and an active institutional framework.
In recent years, the number of projects operating under international standards has increased, with stronger participation from Colombian organizations.
Meanwhile, the “non-causation” mechanism — which allows companies to offset emissions instead of paying the national carbon tax — continues to serve as a key driver of demand, even in times of uncertainty.
“The carbon market will bloom again.
This is not a setback, but a stage of adjustment.
What truly matters is strengthening regulation, rebuilding trust, and ensuring that high-quality processes deliver real, measurable benefits for local territories.”
A vision gaining strength
The message is clear: the carbon market and nature conservation are not passing trends but essential instruments of modern climate action. Their evolution — beyond political cycles — depends on our collective ability to rebuild trust, strengthen regulation, and align economic growth with ecological balance.
The integration of biodiversity credits, direct community participation, and long-term policy stability will be crucial for Colombia to reaffirm its role as a regional leader in sustainability.
In a country with one of the planet’s greatest natural treasures, climate markets represent far more than an economic opportunity: they are a pathway toward environmental justice, territorial security, and sustainable development.
A path that remains open — and, despite the challenges, continues to advance with the conviction that climate action thrives when nature and communities walk together. 🌿
🎥 Watch the full interview from the Climate Summit for Colombia & LATAM 2025 on our YouTube channel:
