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T3 Sustainability Framework Approaches
T3.1 Introduction
Sustainability framework approaches, especially those based on the Sustainable Livelihoods
Framework (SLF), are widely used as a basis for the social assessment of rural development projects,
including for identifying monitoring indicators as discussed in SIA Stage 5 of the Manual. We present
here a modified version of the SLF which could be used by land-based carbon projects; the Social
Carbon Methodology (SCM) which is already widely used in Brazil for multiple-benefit carbon
projects; and the Landscape Outcomes Assessment Methodology (LOAM) which is a practical and
participatory approach to indicator selection.
T3.2 Modified SLF Developed by the SAPA Initiative
The Social Analysis of Protected Areas (SAPA) Initiative (Schreckenberg et al., 2010) has modified the
original SLF (see Figure 3 in SIA Stage 5) in a way that may also be appropriate for land-based carbon
projects. The ‘SAPA Initiative modified SLF’ draws on other sustainability based approaches, notably
the World Bank ‘Opportunities Framework’ for assessing poverty reduction and the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment (MEA).
In its 2000 World Development Report, the World Bank (2001) proposed a variant of the SLF using
elements of rights-based approaches. Their ‘Opportunities Framework’ focuses on the needs of the
poor in three areas:
• ‘Opportunity’: Expanding the economic opportunities for poor people by stimulating
economic growth, making markets work better for the poor, and working for their inclusion,
particularly by building up their capital assets, such as land and education.
• ‘Empowerment’: Strengthening the ability of poor people to shape decisions that affect their
lives, and removing discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, and social status.
• ‘Security’: Reducing poor people's vulnerability to sickness, economic shocks, crop failure,
unemployment, natural disasters, and violence, and helping them cope when such
misfortunes occur.
As shown in Figure T11, the MEA framework divides ecosystem services into supporting,
provisioning, regulating and cultural services, and indicates how these attributes relate to different
aspects of human well-being. Well-being (the opposite of poverty) is defined as having “multiple
constituents, including basic material for a good life, freedom of choice and action, health, good
social relations, and security” (MEA, 2005).
Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects (1.0) – Part II | 24