Cocoa Academy

Carbon Management Fundamentals: Setting the Stage for Advanced Action

From Footprint to Advantage: Turning Emissions Into Business Value

Carbon markets have evolved from a niche environmental concept into a strategic economic and financial mechanism. Today, they directly influence agricultural supply chains, trade flows, access to capital, and corporate competitiveness. For cocoa producers, traders, processors and chocolate brands, carbon is no longer just a sustainability topic. It is increasingly linked to market access, financing conditions, regulatory compliance, buyer requirements, and long-term resilience.

As carbon regulation expands and voluntary commitments tighten, understanding how carbon markets function, how prices are formed, and how risk can be managed becomes essential.

Partnering with South Pole and StoneX, this introductory webinar will draw on real project experience and market insights to help participants understand what “good” looks like in carbon management.

By joining, participants will benefit from expert guidance, concrete examples, and practical takeaways.  

Objective

In this session, we will focus on how carbon markets work from the Net Zero Journey, market and trading perspective, and how cocoa sector participants can navigate this fragmented landscape with clarity and commercial confidence.

This introductory webinar serves as the gateway to CAA’s course, where experts will take a deeper dive into these topics so participants can build the skills needed to turn climate ambition into measurable, credible action.

This session is designed for anyone seeking orientation or basic literacy on carbon management and a little bit more.

Takeaways for Participants

• Understanding Net Zero Journey, Scope 1,2 & 3 emissions

• Introduction to GHG Accounting

• Compliance to Regulations

• Understanding Carbon Credits and Market

Register Here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/bo8LHxJwQYK9r-y6sudyrQ

Content Outline

Journey to Net Zero

• Understanding components of Net Zero

• Relevant Standards and Guidelines: Corporate Net Zero Standard, SBTi Flag Guidance, GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standards

• Measuring your footprint: Overview of Scope 1,2,3, FLAG emissions, how to quantify them

• Navigating Data Challenges: data hierarchy, Iterative improvement processes

• Developing an action plan and how to bring your stakeholders on the journey

  
  

Introduction to Carbon Markets and Trading System

• Carbon Credits Demystified

  • What carbon credits, offsets and insets are, and why they have economic value.

  • How environmental action becomes a tradable asset.

• Inside the Carbon Ecosystem

  • The main international frameworks and infrastructure behind carbon markets.

  • Understanding the role of registries, standards and exchanges, as well as traders, financial institutions, corporates and project developers.

• Market Fundamentals

  • The main market drivers. Quality differentiation and pricing dispersion.

  • What drives price volatility, liquidity, transparency and market fragmentation.

• Voluntary vs Compliance Markets, Two Very Different Worlds

  • Structural differences, pricing mechanisms, buyer motivations, risk profile and regulatory exposure.

• Cocoa and Carbon, From Risk to Opportunity:

  • Carbon as a cost versus carbon as a revenue stream.

  • Turning sustainability action into commercial advantage.

This webinar is a prelude to the Carbon Management course - Register your Interest HERE