A comparison of forest carbon offset protocols in the U.S.: An evaluation of accounting standards

To support cap-and-trade programs, various registers have carried out forest carbon offset projects in the U.S.. These registers aim to provide more incentives for landowners to engage in mitigation activities, while using more conservative and strict standards to ensure carbon emission reductions. The lack of consistent accounting standards can result in the loss of environmental benefits. Accounting standards for forestry projects consist of several accounting elements, including additionality, leakage, permanence, and the carbon pools to be measured. This research compares and contrasts the elements of the accounting standards among the existing major forest carbon offset protocols in the U.S. and checks them according to defined criteria. The research finds that the treatments for leakage and permanence have the greatest potential to be further improved and suggested a few ways to enhance them.