• A/R CDM
• VCS AFOLU
• CCBS & FSC

There have been several comparisons which have evaluated the different forest carbon standards.

• Review of Forest Carbon Standards, Imperial College London, 2009  
  ‘For afforestation and reforestation projects, CarbonFix is highly recommended.’  ’CarbonFix managed to transform a highly complex process into a simplified, user friendly standard and still guarantees high quality carbon credits.’ 
  
  
• CarbonPositive, 2009
  'CarbonFix has placed itself in between the VCS and the CCB Standard, aiming for a ‘best of both worlds’ approach.’ 
  
  
• Comparison of Forestry Carbon Standard 2008, University of Canterbury
  'For projects larger than 100ha the CarbonFix Standard can be recommended as the most appropriate’.

A/R CDM Practicability - The A/R CDM mechanism of the UN has set the methodological basis to measure carbon reductions in forestation projects. The carbon reductions from a forest project differ however by factors such as the tree species, the soil conditions, climatic conditions, etc. By including all these potential parameters, the application and documentation of these formulas is very extensive. As a result, most project developers have costly consultants to undertake the documentation for them. PRO CarbonFix - The CarbonFix Standard solves this problem by simplifying the documentation and calculation process, so that 'normal' foresters can do this work. The standard is simplification as a result of restricting the standard to certain types of forestation - e.g. projects can not apply the CarbonFix Standard when they plant their trees on a wetland. Presently, experts believe that approximately 70% of all potential A/R CDM projects would be eligible to apply the CarbonFix Standard. CarbonFix's methodology is only 7 pages long and includes all parameters of the A/R CDM framework (CO2-fixation, Baseline, Leakage and Project emissions) as well as the selection of the carbon pools. CONTRA CarbonFix - Due to CarbonFix Standard's requirements, not all types of forestation projects are accepted. For these projects which do not fulfill the CarbonFix Standard requirements, we recommend using the VCS AFOLU. Temporary certificates - Projects certified according to A/R CDM generate temporary certificates (tCERs or lCERs). These types of credits are not currently accepted under the world's largest official emission trading system - the EU ETS. Therefore, there is no available market for these certificates. PRO CarbonFix - The CarbonFix Standard enables project developers to sell their certificates on the voluntary carbon market. On this market, projects must illustrate that they generate their certificates on a permanent basis and have major social and ecological co-benefits. All these aspects are covered by the criteria of the CarbonFix Standard. Registration process - Past experience indicates that the validation and registration process for an A/R project ranges from 3 to 5 years. This is a long and costly process during which no direct revenue can be expected. PRO CarbonFix - Due to its simple documentation process and simplified methodology, it takes in average of 6 to 12 months to prepare project documentation and complete the certification process according to the CarbonFix Standard.

VCS AFOLU Practicability - Currently, there are no other methdologies accredited under the VCS than those of A/R CDM methodologies.   PRO / CONTRA - see A/R CDM Ex-post certificates - Projects certified according to the VCS AFOLU program can only account for their ex-post certificates (the amount of carbon which is already stored by the trees). This encourages the use of faster growing plantations, which can store more carbon in a short period of time. PRO CarbonFix - With the CarbonFix Standard, projects can generate their carbon certificates both ex-post and ex-ante (VERfutures). Selling VERfutures allows project developers to also use slower growing native tree species with a higher degree of biodiversity. CONTRA CarbonFix - In contrast to ex-post certificates, ex-ante credits carry the risk of non-delivery. Therefore, the CarbonFix Standard must focus on the long-term sustainable set-up of projects. This is given by strict criteria on the financial setting of the project developer, its management skills, the secured land tenure of the project area, as well as the buffer fund which is activated when a project fails.   How does the risk of ex-post and ex-ante credits differ? In contrast to ex-post certificates the risk of ex-ante credits have the additional risk from the 'Time of delivery'. This becomes clear when assessing these two formulas: Ex-post risk = Risk * Long-term permanence Ex-ante risk = Risk * (Time of delivery + Long-term permanence) In both formulas, the key parameter is the 'Long-term permanence'. Therefore the longer one wants the carbon to be stored, the the smaller the difference in the risk levels between the two types of credits becomes. Eventually, when the carbon should be stored permanently, the risks are equal. Additionality - Carbon certificates can only be generated by a project when evidence is given that only the sale of these certificates has made the implementation of the project feasible. In contrast to technical climate projects (such as energy saving light-bulbs or solar cooking stoves), forestation projects have often a much longer time span over in which the carbon fixation occurs. Taking into account that VCS AFOLU only enables the sale of ex-post certificates, the financial additionality is minimal. Therefore, in most cases only projects which have a significant revenue stream resulting from commodities other than carbon credits (such as timber or fruits) can be implemented. PRO CarbonFix - With the ex-ante approach, financially additional projects become feasible and the high costs associated with initial planting and maintenance of the restoration can be financed. Co-benefits - To secure long-term sustainable projects, ecological and socio-economic characteristics must be taken into account. As VCS AFOLU does not have its own criteria to cover such aspects, they are referred to other certification schemes - such as the CCBS or FSC. PRO CarbonFix - The CarbonFix Standard considers the project's social and ecological aspects. However it still also allows project developers to use other certification schemes and accepts these as a replacement to their own criteria. Story behind the credits - For the voluntary carbon market 'a ton of CO2' is not just a 'ton of CO2'. Buyers which balance their emissions with carbon credits are interested in knowing the story behind their credits and would also like to communicate this to their customers. PRO CarbonFix - The CarbonFix Standard requires its projects to make use of the ClimateProjects platform, which enables buyers to get a detailed and easy to understand overview on the projects activities. Fees - To ensure continuous improvement of a standards criteria and their work in supporting the project developers, the organisations behind the standards charge fees based on the amount of certificates generated.  PRO CarbonFix - While the VCS charges its fees at the point of issuance - right after the certification is completed - CarbonFix only charges project developers after they have actually sold a certificate. CONTRA CarbonFix - CarbonFix charges a notably higher price for its certificates than the VCS. CarbonFix = € 0.50 per certificate sold, VCS = US$ 0.04 per certificate issued. We justify this higher fee due to our provision of additional services: Free registration of certificates in the market's carbon registry Free account on the ClimateProjects platform Cooperation with the greenEye platform (from mid 2010 on) Direct and fast support to clarify questions of project developers and certifiers Further, the prices in the voluntary carbon market vary largely (in 2009: from € 2 up to over € 20 per certificate). As CarbonFix prices can be found in the middle to higher levels of this range, the higher fees charged by CarbonFix are easily earned back.

CCBS & FSC No CO2-certificates - Both the CCBS and FSC standards do not generate carbon certificates themselves. They must always be applied in combination with a so-called 'carbon accounting standard'. These standards can be A/R CDM and VCS, as well as CarbonFix. PRO CarbonFix - To make it easier for project developers to apply both standards, the CarbonFix Standard accepts the CCBS and FSC certification as a replacement for certain criteria of its own standard. Co-benefits - CCBS as well as FSC have their expertise in ensuring the socioeconomic and ecological benefits of projects. PRO CarbonFix - As both of these standard are backed by key international NGOs (the CCBS by Conservation International, the FSC by WWF), the application of one of these standards in combination with the CarbonFix Standard may lead to an increase in value of the carbon certificates which are generated.

CAR Scale of applicability - etc. PRO CarbonFix - etc.