Community guidelines for accessing forestry voluntary carbon ... - FAO

Community guidelines for accessing forestry voluntary carbon markets
5.2.3 Using default values
Most VCM standards accept the use of default values. This can be
quite a useful approach, especially when starting up a project: default
values can be used to begin with, and more accurate, project-specific
assessments can be made over time, as the project developers secure
the necessary resources for the fieldwork. In some cases, however, the
additional carbon benefits may not be sufficient to cover the costs of
this fieldwork, and default values remain the benchmark for carbon
stock estimates throughout the project’s duration. This will reduce the
accuracy of predictions of carbon credit outputs from the project, and
thus will affect the level of investment it will attract, but default values
are particularly useful for community-based projects, where human
resources and skill limitations increase the expense of the fieldwork
required for carbon accounting.
VCM standards will accept default values that are obtained from
guidelines produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC). These are available from the IPCC’s own website (www.ipcc.ch)
or from the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) in Japan:
IPCC Inventory Guidelines (http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/
2006gl/index.html)
IPCC Good Practice Guidance (http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/
gpglulucf/gpglulucf.html).
Alternatively, default values from peer-reviewed literature, appropriate
to the project’s situation, are also considered acceptable. This will
require the assistance of experienced, professional carbon project
developers or academics (see section 7).
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