Third-party Evaluations

	Authors: OroVerde, Global Nature Fund - 2011 Supporters: Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) Investing in forest carbon projects - Guidelines for companies and private investors Conclusion: The CarbonFix Standard fulfills the majority of the essential criteria regarding the methodology on CO2-calculation as well as the social and ecological criteria. Page 29. Website: www.globalnature.org/31768/PROJECTS/ Download report
	Authors: E. Merger, M. Dutschke, L. Verchot - 2011 Supporters: UNIQUE GmbH, BioCarbon Consult, CIFOR Scientific review: forests Options for REDD+ Voluntary Certification to Ensure Net GHG Benefits, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainable Management of Forests and Biodiversity Conservation Conclusion: The CarbonFix Standard provides a practical approach that includes a comprehensive framework for designing and implementing A/R projects promoting SFM and forest conservation. Page 568. Website: http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/2/2/550/ Download report
	Authors: natureOffice - 2011 Language: German only Gold Standard versus CarbonFix Conclusion: Both standards are seen as equally good to provide investors and companies with a transparent tool to secure high-quality certificates for voluntary commitments in climate protection. Page 15. Download report
	Authors: International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) - 2011 Conclusion: "We selected the CarbonFix Standard for inclusion in the ICROA Code because CarbonFix offset credits are environmentally robust, highly innovative and focus on biodiversity and sustainability." Edward Hanrahan, ICROA co-chair Website: http://klimabonus.com/article160_15704.html
	Authors: CarbonPositive - 2010 Status and Future of the Afforestation and Reforestation (A/R) Carbon Sector Conclusion: By 2010 already 31% of the worlds voluntary A/R forest carbon projects were using the CarbonFix Standard. Page 15. Download report
	Authors: Imperial College London, P. Lopes - 2009 A Comparison of the leading Standards in the - Voluntary Carbon Market Conclusion: For reforestation projects, CarbonFix is highly recommended. CarbonFix managed to transform a highly complex process into a simplified, user friendly standard and still guuarantees high-quality carbon credits. Page 72. Download report
	Authors: Canterbury University, E. Merger - 2008 Supporters: Carbon Positive Title: A Comparison of the leading Standards in the Voluntary Carbon Market Conclusion: For projects larger than 100ha the CarbonFix Standard can be recommended as being the most appropriat. Page 67. Download report

Why CarbonFix ?

Many project developers inquire about the differences between the CarbonFix Standard and other standards. This page provides you with information on the major differences of the following standards:

A/R CDM

VCS

CCBS & FSC

VCS

Practicability

VCS projects must use an A/R CDM methodology to calculate carbon reduction.

PRO / CONTRA - see A/R CDM - Practicability

Furthermore, it is recommended that all VCS projects are additionally certified by standard with ecological and social safeguards, such as FSC or CCBA. CarbonFix believes these safeguards ought to be integrated within one single standard, because of the interconnectedness of forestry projects.

Ex-post certificates

Projects certified according to the VCS are limited to the sale of ex-post certificates. Hereby the carbon must be stored by trees before any sale can take place (see black numbers in the graph). In contrast to this, with ex-ante sales, the amount of future certificates (300 in the graph) can be sold as soon as the project is certified.

PRO CarbonFix With the CarbonFix Standard, projects can sell their carbon certificates in two ways: as ex-post or ex-ante. Selling CO2-certificates ex-ante allows project developers to also use slower growing tree species and increases the carbon income at the beginning of a project.

CONTRA CarbonFix In contrast to ex-post certificates, ex-ante credits carry the risk of delivery. This is the risk that occurs from the beginning of a project until the trees have fixed the predicted amount of carbon.

To minimize the risk of delivery the CarbonFix Standard ensures - more than any other standard - that projects are established in all of their aspects (management capacity, financial health, land tenure, etc.) in a long-term and sustainable way.

Besides the risk of delivery, projects have the risk of permanence, which is the risk to ensure that stored carbon will be kept stored by the trees (long-term permanance).

This risk occurs in the same way in ex-ante, as well as ex-post certificates.

Many believe that the risk of ex-ante credits is higher than the one of ex-post credits. See the table below, why this not so.

Why does the risk of ex-post and ex-ante credits not differ?

In contrast to ex-post certificates the risk of ex-ante credits have the additional risk of delivery - from the 'Time of delivery':

Ex-ante credit risk = Risk * (Time of delivery + Long-term permanence)

Ex-post credit risk = Risk * Long-term permanence

The key parameter for this formila is the 'Long-term permanence'. With an increasing 'Long-term permanence' (30 years, 50 years, 100 years, 1 000 years) the different between the two credits types becomes smaller as the only differencing factor will be 'Time of delivery'. Increasing now the parameter 'Long-term permanence' to infinity, the risk of both credits types becomes the same.

Additionality

Carbon certificates can only be generated by a project when evidence is given that the implementation of the project was made possible only through the sale of these credits.

When selling certificates in an ex-post way a project must base its financial viability heavily on additional early income sources. Typically such early income can only be generated by fast growing plantations.

PRO CarbonFix Early income can also be generated by the sale of ex-ante certificates. With these certificates project developers are releaved from the pressure of using fast growing tree species, and gain the financial freedom to use native species with slower growth rates, thus creating more biodiversity.

CONTRA CarbonFix - see 'Ex-post certificates'

Social & Ecological Aspects

Social and ecological aspects must be considered in order to secure the long-term sustainbility of forest projects. Because VCS does not have any of its own criteria that cover these social and ecological aspects, it refers to other certification schemes such as the FSC or CCBA.

PRO CarbonFix The CarbonFix Standard has integrated strong social and ecological aspects into its set of criteria. This makes CarbonFix a holistic standard that does not require any additional certification, which, as a result, saves the project developer time and money.

Story behind the Credits

For participants in the Voluntary Carbon Market, a ton of CO2 is not just a ton of CO2. Buyers who balance their emissions with carbon credits are interested in knowing the story behind their credits so that they can communicate this further to their customers.

PRO CarbonFix Unlike VCS, the CarbonFix Standard requires its projects to use the ClimateProjects platform: This enables carbon buyers and their customers to remain easily informed on varying aspects of their projects. The amount of carbon credits and certification documents can also be accessed through this platform. This level of transparency makes CarbonFix the most consumer orientated standard on the market.

Fees

Fees are based on the amount of CO2-certificates generated by a project. They support the work of the standard setting organization.

PRO CarbonFix While the VCS charges its fees at the time of issuance - right after the certification process is completed - CarbonFix only charges its fees after a certificate has been sold.

CONTRA CarbonFix CarbonFix assesses a higher price for its certificates than the VCS. CarbonFix = 0.50 € per certificate sold, VCS = US$ 4 Cent per certificate issued.

CarbonFix sees itself both as the standard setter and as a networking organization. It shares news, builds the capacity of new project developers, and provides carbon buyers with information about the benefits of worldwide CarbonFix projects.