The forest climate standard: for climate-resilient forests

The German Forest Climate Standard (WKS) is a quality standard for climate certificates that provides incentives for climate-friendly forest management and promotes forest conversion in times of climate change. The climate certificates enable forest owners to co-finance the sale of carbon credits on the voluntary emissions market. This co-financing is urgently needed: In Germany, there are 2.85 million hectares of high-risk forest area, which requires a financing sum of at least 50 billion euros to accomplish the future task of forest conversion.

On the forest climate standard

Development of the forest climate standard

Principles

In addition to the glossary, principles are the foundation of every standard. They are the long-term guidelines for its continuous development and interpretation. Principles describe the target state to be achieved and are usually cross-scope. The 10 principles of the eva standards are based on regulations of international climate standards and were developed together with the IPCC at the end of 2021.

1. legislation & suitability

Projects are compliant with national legislation and meet all eligibility criteria of the chosen standard.

2. project management

Projects are implemented professionally and transparently, taking into account the long-term nature of the project periods.

3. additionality

Ecosystem services arise in addition to the reference scenario, and the income generated by them makes a decisive contribution to project implementation.

4. environment

Projects are carried out in an ecologically responsible manner and generate positive environmental impacts for the restoration, preservation and resilience of ecosystem services.

5. social affairs

Projects act in a socially responsible manner, follow occupational health and safety standards and promote the social well-being and participation of the local population.

6. methods

Projects generate real and measurable ecosystem services that are comprehensibly quantified, monitored and transparently reported in accordance with current recognized scientific principles.

7. permanence

The permanence of the ecosystem service is ensured by risk management requirements and a permanence buffer.

8. certification

Projects are certified at regular intervals by independent, qualified certifiers.

9. uniqueness

The uniqueness of the output and valorization of ecosystem services is ensured by a publicly accessible registration system (Impact Registry) that reports to the national inventory system.

10. broad impact

eva promotes the broad acceptance and scaling of various ecosystem services in the forest sector through a participatory, market-oriented and practice-oriented design of its regulations.

Criteria & Methods

The criteria of a standard describe its principles in a higher level of detail. They are partly scope-specific and can also differ due to different project parameters (e.g. forest owner types, municipality, private, state).

There are various methods (scopes) for calculating net CO2 sequestration. In the forest sector, there are three main categories of scopes: Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R), Improved Forest Management (IFM) and Reduced Emission Deforestation & Degradation (REDD). Within these scopes, the methodological approaches are very similar.

More about methods
Indicators

All criteria and methods can contain one or more indicators that an auditor (certifier) checks specifically during a certification process. Some indicators are only checked once (during initial certification), others are checked regularly at certain points in time. Some are checked "on site" during a project inspection, others in interviews, others again through documents "at the desk" (desk review).

Glossary

Each standard is based on a common language, which is recorded in a glossary.

Processes

The processes of a standard describe the course of the certification cycle, regulate the tasks for the continuous further development of the standard, ensuring permanence (on the part of the standard) and the fees for the use of the set of rules.

Development and quality of the forest climate standard

How is the forest climate standard being developed?

  • The Forest Climate Standard is based on UN guidelines and is scientifically sound. The standard forms the basic framework for the certification of projects.
  • The IPCC legitimizes the standard through the expertise and dialogue with its members from all relevant stakeholder groups. As a sounding board, the IPCC is directly involved in the development of the standard.
  • The Technical Committee is elected as a panel of experts by the IPCC. It closely monitors the development of the forest climate standard and clarifies questions arising from its application.

How does it work? - Quality assurance in the process

eva accredits methods for the valorization of ecosystem services under the forest-climate standard. The accreditation procedure is part of the standard and guaranteed through external expert opinions, public consultations, practical phases and the involvement of stakeholders a high quality of methods.

  • Methods are continuously improved - they are updated at least every 2 years in a revision process based on scientific knowledge
  • The certifications are carried out through audits by independent third parties and guarantee the quality of the projects implemented.
  • The issue of certificates is regularly checked by state-accredited auditing companies.
  • From project certification to issuance in the eva-Impact Register, the certificates go through completely digital processes, ensuring smooth and secure transactions.
  • eva certificates are stored once in the eva Impact Register and documented in a tamper-proof manner. All project information is listed there in a traceable manner.

Climate-smart forestry refers to climate-adapted forest management analogous to climate-smart agriculture. It focuses on the consequences of climate change and its impact on the forest, with the aim of ensuring the long-term preservation of the forest.

Methods at a glance

The forest climate standard was developed for areas in Germany and thus takes into account regional requirements for a climate-friendly and sustainable forest.It forms the basis for methods to quantify the ecosystem services of our forests. The forest climate standard currently comprises two methods. Both methods of the Forest Climate Standard aim to make forests more climate-friendly by increasing carbon storage, strengthening adaptability to climate change and promoting biodiversity. They are part of measures to promote sustainable forest management and the sequestration of greenhouse gas emissions.

Develop project

Areas of application

Method 01:
Forest reconstruction
 

The method focuses on rebuilding forests after extreme events such as storms, droughts or pest infestations. The aim is to create sustainable successor generations of forests.

With the establishment of several site-adapted and climate-resilient tree species, the next generation of trees should be better able to withstand the effects of climate change and thus store more carbon.

Method 02:
Forest conversion
 

In the multi-stakeholder dialog, Pina Earth is working on the method for forest conversion. The method aims to increase the climate resilience of commercial forests. 

The aim of forest conversion is to create multi-layered forests with different tree species and age classes. This promotes the natural dynamics of the forest, increases biodiversity and improves adaptability to climate change.

Method 03: Climate-optimized forest management

In a multi-stakeholder dialogue, OCELL is working on a method for climate-optimized forest management. The method aims to increase, maintain and stabilize carbon storage.

Forestry operations planning adapted to the impact of climate change and reduced wood use are intended to increase or maintain carbon storage at the level of forestry operations. Special attention is paid to the stability of the forests.

Method developer

eva is expanding the forest climate standard with the method developer Pina Earth with method 02 - forest conversion. Pina Earth develops certified climate protection projects in Europe to convert endangered monocultures into climate-resilient mixed forests.

OCELL uses remote sensing and AI to develop local climate projects with immediate impact. These projects are based on a specially developed forest technology that enables precise data collection, continuous monitoring and maximum transparency. 

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