Evaluating protocols and standards for forest carbon-offset programs, Part B: leakage assessment, wood products, validation and verification

In the second and final part of this series, we review ten prominent standards and protocols for how they address three key issues – leakage, wood products and validation/verification. On all of these dimensions and across all programs we find problems that call into question the credibility of the programs’ certified projects and offset credits. The problems are compounded by the issues raised in the companion article (Part A), which examines additionality, baselines and permanence. The pervasive nature of the flaws raises the question of the feasibility of designing a forest carbon-offset protocol that provides both reasonable credibility and low transactions costs. We suggest some possible approaches to forest carbon-offset protocols and their alternatives.