Environmental impact

The 'non-carbon' environmental impact of a project (i.e. impacts not connected to global warming) will be important for both producers and purchasers:

• projects which can demonstrate positive environmental impacts may be more attractive to purchasers of carbon offsets
• projects which aim to sell carbon through the Clean Development Mechanism will have to undertake some form of environmental impact assessment as part of the validation process
• activities which enhance local biodiversity or other environmental services such as water and soil conservation will improve sustainable livelihoods in rural areas

The technical specification should describe how local or regional biodiversity and other environmental services such as soil or water resources will be affected and how any potential negative impacts will be mitigated. Technical specifications for afforestation activities should state whether species used are native to the region; the use of exotic species should be justified and risks to natural ecosystems assessed - for example if introduced species could be invasive.