Governance and equity in community-based forest carbon projects of SouthEastern Mexico

Voluntary forest carbon markets are global policy instruments in which power asymmetries among actors operating across multiple scales can impose unequal burdens on local communities. This study examines the development of community-based forest carbon projects in southeastern Mexico through a multiscale governance approach and explores how local governance arrangements influence equity outcomes. A comparative analysis was conducted across four carbon projects representing collective and individual-based management schemes. Fieldwork and semi-structured interviews were complemented by analysis of carbon-market forums and webinars, along with a review of scientific literature. The cases were analysed using a multidimensional equity framework (contextual, distributive, procedural and environmental), combined with rural and multilevel governance approaches. The comparative analysis was supported by semi-quantitative equity indices. The findings indicate that local communities have limited bargaining power, with project developers acting as dominant intermediaries. At the local level, rural governance institutions function both as mechanisms of collective action and as a means of legitimising the exclusion of some actors within the community. Collectively managed projects exhibited stronger organisational capacity and more equitable outcomes than individual-based projects. These differences were influenced by social history and cohesion, land availability and organisational support provided by project developers. Drawing on these findings, we propose an empirically derived analytical framework that incorporates the environmental dimension to assess equity in community-based carbon projects. This study contributes to understanding the relationship between governance and equity in voluntary forest carbon markets and highlights the importance of incorporating socioenvironmental perspectives into equity assessment.