It's Official - State Air Board Adopts CAR Forest Project Accounting Protocol

Revised Accounting Standards Make Headlines Coast to Coast

The national significance of California's Air Resources Board adopting a revised "3.0" version of the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) Forest Project Accounting Protocol hasn't gone unnoticed in the press.

The Associated Press, New York Times and several other outlets covered the adoption, most notable for the Protocol's expansion to include forest carbon projects from across the nation.

As the first state-approved forest carbon accounting standard with national applicability, the revised Protocol provides a model for federal and international climate policy makers who are negotiating terms for safeguarding and expanding the climate benefits of forests in federal climate legislation and the successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

PFT already is working with forest owners in other parts of the country to prepare projects for registration under the new Forest Project Accounting Protocol.

Some of the press coverage focused on a narrow provision of the CAR standards that clarifies the limits for registered emissions reduction projects to employ even-aged forest management – also known as clear cutting – on up to 40 acres of land.

While the rule aligns with existing California forestry law, this requirement is far more strict than what timber managers are used to complying with in other states.

“We have to write rules that are stringent but fair,” CAR President Gary Gero told the New York Times, “in the hopes of getting more people to use forests to sequester carbon.”

"The Protocol uses a rigorous accounting mechanism for ensuring projects offer permanent, measurable climate gains that are additional to what can be achieved with conventional forest management. Business-as-usual clear cutting of young forests won’t yield any increases in carbon stores," says PFT Managing Director Connie Best, who served on the Protocol Revision Working Group.

"If landowners are managing their forests to protect existing carbon banks and increase stores, these gains will be reflected under CAR’s accounting standards," Best says. "Then they’ll be able to deliver credible, verifiable emissions reductions and reap corresponding returns in the marketplace. "

Read our media release on the revised Protocol.