California's First Cap-and-Trade Forest Carbon Credits Verified by SCS Global Services

Coastal Ridges LLC's 19,000-acre Willits Woods Forest carbon project has been verified by SCS Global Services (SCS) to offset 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (C02e) emissions through improved forest management activities over an eight-year period. The Willits Woods Forest is one of the few “Early Action” projects that qualified for the conversion of voluntary carbon offset credits to compliance-grade credits, which can be purchased and traded by regulated companies under California’s Cap-and-Trade scheme.

“Through Coastal Ridges’ conservation leadership, an important forest ecosystem will benefit from enhanced management practices while also contributing to California’s pioneering climate change and greenhouse gas reduction targets,” said Dr. Robert J. Hrubes, Executive Vice President at SCS Global Services.

SCS Global Services (SCS) completed the initial verifications of this project under the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) in 2011 and 2012 before the credits were transitioned to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) system. The tonnage of C02e offset generated an equivalent amount of compliance credits now offered under the ARB’s Cap-and-Trade scheme, which will curtail greenhouse gas emissions statewide in support of the goal of combating climate change.

Under the scheme, capped companies can meet up to eight percent of their mandated C02e emissions reduction obligations by purchasing ARB-approved compliance offsets. All ARB carbon offset projects must be evaluated by an accredited, third-party verification body, such as SCS, which verified the very first voluntary forest carbon offset projects in 2007 under CAR.

The Willits Woods forest management plan focuses on the conservation of the California coastal redwood, an emblematic species of this threatened coastal ecosystem. SCS confirmed that the Coastal Ridges LLC project has successfully employed CAR’s Forest Project Protocol and managed this forest beyond a “business as usual” approach. Like other projects under the Forest Project Protocol, the Willits Woods Forest project area will be managed for the purpose of carbon storage for at least a century.

SCS Global Services has been providing global leadership in third-party environmental and sustainability certification, auditing, testing, and standards development for three decades. Programs span a cross-section of industries, recognizing achievements in green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, forestry, and more. SCS is accredited to provide carbon offset verification under a multitude of globally-recognized standards, including VCS, CCB, ACR and CAR. www.scsglobalservices.com