Advances in technology and practical implementation experience have created a growing body of research and evidence that reducing carbon emissions and enhancing carbon sequestration through forest conservation, restoration and management can be a credible part of the fight against climate change. This report explores the primary challenges in proving this credibility, including:

• Proving that the climate benefits from forest activities are additional, or would not have happened anyway.
• Setting realistic baselines (or business-as-usual scenarios).
• Measuring,monitoring, reporting, and verifing the actual emissions avoided or carbon stocks preserved in forests.
• Addressing “leakage” (i.e., the shifting of emissions elsewhere).
• Managing risks to the permanence of carbon credits.
• Ensuring the involvement of and benefits to local and indigenous peoples.
• Ensuring such efforts enhance, rather than undermine, environmental co-benefits.