"accounting Matters"

Accounting matters

Strong Standard Yields Higher Returns for U.S. Forests

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rigorous standard demonstrates and ranchlands is expected to claim an area the just how much accounting matters. size of Italy during the next half-century. Once Investor confidence in projects registered under the converted, these landscapes will lose Protocol has resulted in far greater both their current carbon stocks market returns for landowners. CAR is already mentioned in the   and future ability to sequester CO2. U.S. lawmakers are taking notice, federal cap-and-trade bill working its To address these land-use changes, incorporating CAR’s project-level way through Congress as a system the Pacific Forest Trust and other standard in the Senate version to be grandfathered into a national stakeholders have worked in of U.S. climate legislation and program,” ClimateWire reported on Sept. 28. “Analysts and carbon California to pioneer a market for proposing a system of nationalexchanges report that CAR credits forest-based emissions reductions level accounting to measure have come to dominate the offsets (ERs). This market is shaped by overall changes in forest carbon market as a result.  the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) stocks. Sectoral accounting at the Forest Project Protocol, a groundnational level allows for the detecbreaking forest carbon accounting standard. Recently tion and reduction of leakage, as well as the assessment revised and now applicable anywhere in the U.S., CAR’s of overall trends within public and private ownerships. evelopment and conversion of U.S. forests, farms

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The CAR Forest Project Protocol Strong Standard Designed to Deliver Credible Forest-Based CO2 Emissions Reductions

• Now Applies to Projects Across the U.S. • Ensures Environmental Co-Benefits of Natural Forests and Native Species • Addresses Three Project Types: t Improved Forest Management t Reforestation t Avoided Conversion • Provides Rigorous Accounting Metrics:

Baseline A projection of carbon stocks under business-asusual (i.e. what would have happened in absence of the project). Specific guidance is provided depending on the project and ownership type.

Additionality Required for eligibility and demonstrated through legal and performancestandard tests as well as through measurable changes relative to baseline levels.

Permanence A 100-year Project Implementation Agreement ensures that carbon stocks will be reported, verified, and replaced in the case of intentional or unintentional reversals.

Verification Third-party verification is required along with annual reporting. Verifiers are approved by the Climate Action Reserve.

Washington Vermont

More Landowners Seek CAR Registration The Pacific Forest Trust is Working with U.S. Landowners to Launch Pilot Forest Carbon Projects from Coast to Coast Forest Project Management Objectives: t Restore natural carbon stocks t Enhance complexity of forest structure and biodiversity tP  rovide sustainable wood products and other ecosystem benefits

Presented by Emily Russell-Roy, Policy Project Manager The Pacific Forest Trust The Presidio, 1001-A O’Reilly Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94129, USA Tel: (Outside of U.S. Dial +1) 415-561-0700, Fax: 415-561-9559 Website: www.PacificForest.org Blog: www.ForestsWorkWonders.org

California

Pennsylvania Virginia Georgia

The Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) is dedicated to safeguarding America’s working forests for the myriad public benefits they provide — wood, water, wildlife and a well-balanced climate. Based in California with staff in OR, WA, MA and D.C., the non-profit conservation organization manages the Van Eck Forest Project, the first verified emissions reduction project registered with CAR. Through its Working Forests, Winning Climate campaign, PFT leads regional and national efforts to enact climate change policies that unite conservation and forest management with market-based incentives to reduce GHG emissions.