The quantity of carbon stored in a forest depends on factors such as geographical location, species, soil type, and climate. To ensure that no overestimation is made on the carbon stored by the forest, Gold Standard has set different safeguards:
- Conservative approach: All parameters used for the determination of the net CO2 fixation must be derived from the best available scientific sources. Their combine effect must lead to a conservative calculation approach. This means that in case of uncertainties:
• The CO2 fixation should be underestimated, and
• The baseline and carbon leakage should be overestimated
- Carbon pool “harvested wood”: Some Gold Standard projects produce timber. This timber generally has additional climate effects that are NOT accounted for by the Standard's methodology.
What are typical positive effects from harvested wood?
• Wood is used for furniture and as building material. Such wood use stores carbon for much longer than the time of the climate project.
• Wood can be used to replace energy-intensive materials, for example, by using wooden window frames instead of aluminum frames.
• Wood is a direct substitute for fossil fuels; for example, using pellets to heat a home rather than oil.
Monitoring over 50 years: To ensure that the carbon stays stored in the trees, Gold Standard certified projects are monitored by third-party auditors up to 50 years after planting.