Forestry Criteria Development of Eligibility Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard & Certification Scheme

The report establishes a framework for certifying forestry-related bonds, focusing on ensuring that funded projects contribute to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. It defines eligible assets—including plantation forestry, sustainable forest management, and conservation/restoration projects—and sets specific requirements for mitigation and adaptation. Key measures include a prohibition on natural landscape conversion since 2010 and the use of a resilience checklist. The framework leverages existing industry standards, specifically FSC and PEFC, as proxies for many management requirements while adding specific climate-risk assessments.

• The Forestry Criteria prohibit the conversion of natural landscapes to plantation forestry after 2010 to avoid large greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss. This includes a specific ban on planting forests on peatlands due to their high carbon density.
• Due to the high heterogeneity of forestry activities and geographic contexts, the standard rejects the use of universal GHG emission thresholds, instead relying on the identification of specific management practices as proxies for carbon sequestration.
• The framework leverages the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) as industry best practice certification bodies to verify many management and mitigation requirements.
• All certified forestry assets must pass a specific adaptation and resilience checklist, as existing FSC and PEFC standards are deemed less robust regarding future climate-related risks.
• Conservation and restoration projects are evaluated using the 'Ecoregion Approach' developed by WWF to ensure that the species being restored are appropriate for the specific geographical location.
• The criteria include supporting infrastructure and supply chain assets, such as sawmills and pulp production, provided that facilities producing veneer, plywood, reconstituted panels, pulp, paper, and board generate at least 50% of their energy from renewable sources.
• Forest roads are eligible for certification if they are contained within the forestry concession, do not pass through an Intact Forest Landscape (IFL), and meet specific soil and water protection standards.
• Smallholders are granted flexibility in certification; while they must comply with the management plan and conversion deadlines, they are not required to hold FSC or PEFC certification.
• The standard mandates that Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) must be sought from indigenous peoples or local communities when property rights are affected or project activities may lead to the relocation of habitation.

APA

Negra, C., Havemann, T., House, K., Qadir, U., & Moore, C. (2018). Forestry Criteria Development of Eligibility Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard & Certification Scheme. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/CBI_Background%20Doc_Forests_November%202018.pdf

Chicago

Negra, Christine, Tanja Havemann, Katie House, Ujala Qadir, and Chris Moore. Forestry Criteria Development of Eligibility Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard & Certification Scheme. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2018. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/CBI_Background%20Doc_Forests_November%202018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Negra |first1=Christine |last2=Havemann |first2=Tanja |last3=House |first3=Katie |last4=Qadir |first4=Ujala |last5=Moore |first5=Chris |title=Forestry Criteria Development of Eligibility Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard & Certification Scheme |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=November 2018 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/CBI_Background%20Doc_Forests_November%202018.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{negra2018forestry, author = {Negra, Christine and Havemann, Tanja and House, Katie and Qadir, Ujala and Moore, Chris}, title = {{Forestry Criteria Development of Eligibility Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard \& Certification Scheme}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/CBI_Background%20Doc_Forests_November%202018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }