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

Community guidelines for accessing forestry voluntary carbon markets
1. Additionality
The forestry VCM does not reward activities that have already started or
have already been planned. The test of additionality is satisfied if these
activities, and the resulting emission reductions, will only happen as a
result of participation in the forestry VCM. There are tools available to
test the additionality of a project, for instance on http://cdmrulebook.
org/658.
2. Leakage
A forestry VCM project must demonstrate that it has minimized leakage,
and has accurately quantified any leakage that does occur. Leakage may
cancel out the benefits from a forestry VCM project, or even result in
a net increase in emissions. In this case, a project cannot be credited,
even if the source of leakage is beyond the direct control of the project
manager.
3. Permanence
Carbon stored in forests can be released again. This has always been a
great concern for negotiators under the KP. Under the CDM, this issue
was addressed by issuing credits that have a validity of only five years,
after which they expire and the project must go through a verification
process again. The VCS, by contrast, uses a ‘buffer tool’, whereby credits
that are at risk due to permanence-related issues, are placed in a buffer
and cannot be traded. As time moves on, and as risks do not occur,
credits are released from the buffer and can be sold.
Guidance for the VCS buffer tool is available at: http://www.v-c-s.
org/sites/v-c-s.org/files/AFOLU%20Non-Permanence%20Risk%20
Tool%2C%20v3.1.pdf
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