The valorization of the climate performance of German forests in the form of tradable eva certificates makes it possible to activate additional private funds for forest restoration and forest conversion. In this way, voluntary emissions trading makes an important contribution to achieving Germany's climate targets.
The EU Commission's CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) came into force on January 5, 2023 and replaces the previously applicable Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD).
Depending on company size and turnover, the CSRD will become mandatory in Germany from the 2024 reporting year or 2025 at the latest.
In future, the reporting of non-financial key figures will also include corporate CO2 emissions: eva certificates are suitable for reporting in accordance with the European CSR Directive* and offer a particularly high level of credibility thanks to the regional anchoring of projects in Germany.
*You are welcome to discuss the details of the recognition of eva certificates with your auditing company.
With transparent sustainability reporting, companies protect their reputation, differentiate themselves from the competition and convince new talent on the job market and potential investors.
The eva-Impact Registry enables buyers and sellers to conduct smooth and secure transactions for their certificates. The number of certificates still available and those already retired is displayed transparently and updated daily. The registry also offers a detailed insight into all certified climate projects with their respective geodata and silvicultural concepts.
eva-Impact Registry
Many companies acquire climate certificates to offset their own residual emissions and make themselves carbon neutral - e.g. by applying the SBTI Net-Zero standard. In this way, they take responsibility for climate protection far beyond their legal obligations. It is important that environmental integrity is maintained in all statements on climate neutrality and the use of eva certificates.
The additional climate performance of the eva projects is counted by the Federal Republic as a lump sum as the climate performance of the forest within the framework of the LULUCF sector*. This climate service is reported exclusively by the Federal Republic to the UN via the EU. There is no double counting that jeopardizes environmental integrity. The UN's global greenhouse balance remains intact. The German government has not yet taken a clear position on this.
Certificate purchasers are requested to adhere to the eva Claims Guideline: Contact us! The eva Impact Registry offers sellers the opportunity to offer their certificates for the Contribution Claim only.
*landuse, landuse change and forestry
Contact usIf a forest grows less quickly or partially fails due to calamities, compensation is made via the Permanence buffer takes place. This buffer is made up of 15% of all eva certificates generated. The buffer share is recalculated as soon as 50% of the buffer has been used up, but at the latest every 3 years.
The Federal Republic of Germany has set itself ambitious climate protection targets, and the forest ecosystem plays a key role in achieving them. Studies already show that additional capital is required for forest restoration and the conversion of German forests.
Reforestation of climate-resilient forests is generally more cost-intensive than current practice and therefore often more difficult for forest owners to implement, despite all good intentions - revenues from climate certificates, for example, offer the possibility of co-financing and accelerate climate-adapted forest conversion with greater tree species diversity.
Forests that are to serve as carbon sinks in the long term require increased climate resilience. However, this increased climate resilience does not build up on its own, as forests are "slow ecosystems": With climate protection projects that are adapted to the requirements of climate change, we create this resilience and gain time and speed to counter the climate catastrophe.
Contribution claim (can be used immediately):
"We contribute to achieving Germany's climate targets." / "We support climate protection projects in Germany."
Neutralization claim (can be used immediately):
"By purchasing eva certificates, we will achieve calculated climate neutrality by 20xx."
Neutralization claim (applicable after 5 years):
"In this year 20xx, we will neutralize xx t of our CO2-emissions with eva certificates."
To ensure maximum integrity, eva recommends that companies always make it clear when communicating the neutralization claim:
Prices on the voluntary carbon market are not regulated and are subject to natural fluctuations. Certificates from Germany are particularly popular: around 50% of all German buyers prefer certificates from Germany(Umweltbundesamt, Infopapier zur Marktanalyse Freiwillige Kompensation, Online-Umfrage Adelphi 2021, p. 27).
Due to high demand, low supply and their high quality, eva certificates have already been sold well above the average market price for international removal certificates.
The "reference scenario" refers to the expected greenhouse gas balance on the project area during the project term - without the activities as part of a climate protection project.
In contrast to the reference scenario is the "project scenario": This comprises the expected greenhouse gas balance on the project area during the project term with project activities.
The calculation of the project scenario minus the calculation of the reference scenario results in the marketable carbon sink of the project; the permanent buffer and the fee for eva are already deducted in this calculation. This demonstrates the climate-related additionality of the climate protection project.
To be effective, climate protection projects, such as reforestation of forests, must meet the so-called additionality (additionality) fulfill. A project is only additional if
a) this results in an additional climate protection benefit(climatic additionality),
b) the legal requirements and subsidies are not sufficient to achieve the national climate target in the "forest" sector (legal additionality)and
c) the revenues from the marketing of ecosystem services make a decisive contribution to financing project implementation (financial additionality).
Only if additionality can be demonstrated in all three categories does the project constitute a measure whose ecosystem services in the form of e.g. CO2 sink performance (more precisely: t CO2 equivalent) can be valued by forest owners. This gives the ecosystem service a value, e.g. in the form of climate certificates. These are tradable and can be used to offset non-reducible CO2-emissions that cannot be reduced.
The impact of climate protection projects is demonstrated by climate additionality. Measuring this is an important factor in evaluating the effectiveness of projects. Climate additionality is primarily reflected in the increased climate resilience of the forest and in the time saved by prompt action on calamitous areas (e.g. the forest reconstruction method of the forest climate standard) or endangered pure stands (e.g. the forest conversion method of the forest climate standard).
There is a legal framework that prescribes reforestation, but the mere existence of laws does not automatically ensure that the science-based climate protection targets are achieved. Furthermore, the legal reforestation obligation does not prescribe a tree species or the number of tree species. For example, a pure spruce stand could be planted again on an area where a pure spruce stand has already failed due to climate change: In such a case, there is no increased climate resilience of the forest - it is not fail-safe against climate change-related risks such as drought stress, drought or beetle infestation and does not generate any climatic additionality.
With the target of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, Germany has set itself ambitious climate targets, to which the conversion to climate-resilient forests should also contribute. The German government's projection report already shows that the required rate of forest conversion and the legal requirement for reforestation will not be achieved - so the legal additionality of climate protection projects is a given.
This is where financial additionality comes into play:
The financial additionality test examines whether the costs of project implementation exceed the resulting income in the project area during the project period. If this is the case, additional income, for example through the valorization of climate protection services, is additional. For a project period of 20-30 years, no positive "returns on investment" are typically expected, for example through the sale of wood produced.