The Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry Guidance for Greenhouse Gas Project Accounting

The Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) Guidance for GHG Project Accounting (LULUCF Guidance) was developed by the World Resources Institute to supplement the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: The GHG Protocol for Project Accounting (Project Protocol). This document provides more specific guidance and uses more appropriate terminology and concepts to quantify and report GHG reductions from LULUCF project activities. The LULUCF Guidance was written in consultation with and reviewed by many stakeholders, similar to the process used to develop the Project Protocol.

The LULUCF Guidance is intended to be used in conjunction with – not in place of – the Project Protocol, so project developers should read the Project Protocol first in order to become familiar with the general framework for GHG project accounting, as most of this information is not repeated in the LULUCF Guidance.

The format of the LULUCF Guidance is similar to that of part II of the Project Protocol. Although the LULUCF Guidance may be used for all LULUCF project activities, it focuses on two project types: reforestation and forest management. This guide also can be used for avoided deforestation project activities, although they are not explicitly discussed.

The LULUCF Guidance has no requirements, it simply describes and illustrates, using one example: how the requirements in the Project Protocol for reforestation and forest management project activities should be fulfilled. It highlights those elements for which LULUCF project activities may need approaches slightly different from those in the Project Protocol. In addition, this document points out areas where GHG programs may improve the practicality of these methodologies, by reducing the uncertainty and transaction costs of developing GHG projects while at the same time enhancing the projects’ environmental integrity.