Glossary Terms
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Aboriginal peoples are the original peoples and their descendants of the land that is now Canada. Section 35 for the Constitution Act of 1982 specifies that the Aboriginal Peoples in Canada consist of three groups: First Nations (Indian), Inuits and Métis [1]. Those distinct groups have unique histories, languages, cultural practices, and spiritual beliefs.
Aboriginal rights are collective rights held by Aboriginal peoples that originate from their historical and ancestral presence on their traditional territories which flow from Aboriginal peoples’ continued use and occupation of certain areas.
Aboriginal title refers to the inherent Aboriginal right to land or a territory.
Additionality is a requirement for a carbon project to generate new GHG emissions reductions or removals that would not have happened in absence of the project. A carbon project is considered additional if the project activities would not have occurred in the absence of a market for offset credits.
An aggregated project (aggregation) can be when a single project proponent bundles several smaller parcels of land into a carbon project of a larger size to increase the economic feasibility of a project. An aggregated project can also be where multiple proponents group projects together to share project costs and register a project as a group.
An Atmospheric Benefit Sharing Agreement (ABSA) is how the provincial government negotiates the rights to carbon improvements achieved by a carbon project on ‘crown’ land by an Indigenous community. An ABSA clarifies the responsibilities of both the crown and the proponent and indicates a percentage of the credits or revenues that go back to the crown. In B.C., the Minister of Forests and the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation currently have the authority to approve ABSAs, which are typically reviewed every five years [2].
In this toolkit, we use Atmospheric Benefit Sharing Agreement to mean any of the following: atmospheric benefit agreement, Indigenous atmospheric benefit agreement, atmospheric benefit sharing agreement, or other agreement respecting entitlement to claim Offset Units, carbon credits, emission offsets or other benefits resulting from a project’s reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or enhancement of GHG removals [3].
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a right that pertains to Indigenous Peoples and is recognized in the UN Declaration. It allows Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold consent to any project that may affect them or their territories. Once they have given their consent, they can withdraw it at any stage. Furthermore, FPIC enables communities to negotiate the conditions under which the project will be designed, implemented, monitored and evaluated.
Baseline scenario and historical baseline: These terms refer to different ways of defining the starting point against which GHG emissions reductions are measured. They are both used to evaluate the GHG emission reduction effectiveness of a carbon project by establishing a reference point to determine how much GHG has been reduced as a result of the project.
A baseline scenario is a projection of future GHG emissions that occur without the implementation of a specific carbon project. It represents the “business-as-usual” situation without the carbon project. Baseline scenarios are created by using models that estimate how much carbon would be stored or emitted on the land over a specific period, typically the next 100 years, in the absence of the project [4].
Historical baseline represents the GHG emissions that have occurred in the past without any interventions, serving as a starting point to quantify the emissions that have already taken place and are being addressed by the carbon project.
The choice between baselines depends on the specific goals and circumstances of the carbon project and the data available for analysis. The additionality of a potential carbon project is assessed relative to this baseline for the lifespan of the project life of a typical forest carbon project.
Cap and trade systems are a type of compliance carbon market where a government sets a GHG emissions cap for the overall market, which is split into allowances for individual emitters. Each allowance permits the release of a ton of carbon emissions, and can be traded in the market. The cap is lowered at intervals, ensuring emissions reductions are achieved over time.
Carbon is an element found in our bodies, the atmosphere, the soil, and the Earth’s crust. Forests, wetlands, grasslands, and the ocean absorb and store carbon in living and dead plant tissues. In gaseous form - carbon dioxide (CO2e)- is a GHG.
Carbon offset standard or carbon offset program. For carbon credits to be bought and sold they must be developed and issued under a recognized carbon offset standard or program. Voluntary carbon offset standards include Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard, the Gold Standard, and the American Carbon Registry. Compliance carbon offset standards are usually specific to a particular jurisdiction and create offsets eligible for use in compliance with government regulations. Such standards include BC’s carbon offset standard, the Canadian Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System, and California’s Compliance Offset Program.
A Carbon Project generates revenue by maintaining and enhancing natural processes in a defined geographical area and then turning this service into a tradable commodity to be exchanged (a carbon credit).
Carbon Registry makes key information about carbon projects available to the public. The registry helps track where projects are located, who has registered a carbon project and been issued carbon credits, whether the credits have been sold or retired, used, and who has bought or retired used the credits. Having this information publicly available helps keep carbon projects transparent, accountable and credible.
Carbon Rights are understood to be the right of individuals, corporations, provincial governments, or First Nations to manage carbon in a specific area. This includes the authority to implement a project, the authority to reject it, the right to participate, the right to generate carbon credits, and the right to receive proceeds from the sale of carbon credits. First Nations are fighting for the full recognition of their carbon rights in their territories.
Carbon Tax is a policy tool that puts a price on carbon pollution (emissions of GHGs). This has been the provincial government’s main GHG regulating mechanism since 2008. B.C. collects carbon tax from both individuals and polluters, and returns partial tax as rebates for those polluters that operate more efficiently than the emission benchmark set by the provincial government.
CO₂e is shorthand for carbon dioxide equivalent. CO₂e is a metric that helps us compare emissions from various GHGs with each other, by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide with the same global warming potential. It’s based on the different ways each GHG traps heat and affects the atmosphere.
A Compliance Carbon Market is where carbon credits are bought and sold. It is a government-regulated ‘marketplace’ for carbon credits to be traded and used for compliance obligations of emission reductions.
A Buffer Pool is a percentage of carbon credits created by a carbon project that is withheld by the offset program to function as collective insurance. If GHGs removed by the project are “reversed” and released back into the atmosphere (for example from unplanned logging), the equivalent number of credits in the buffer pool would be cancelled. In B.C.’s system, the buffer pool is also called a contingency account.
Nature-based Climate Solutions should involve all types of natural ecosystems; should be implemented with the full engagement and consent of Indigenous Peoples, when they are not leading a project; must tangibly benefit biodiversity, and should not be a substitute for the rapid phase out of fossil fuels [5].
In the context of First Nations, Natural Climate Solutions refers to Indigenous-led approaches to climate solutions that are grounded in traditional ecological knowledge and practices, and that prioritize the protection and restoration of Indigenous lands and waters [6].
Output-based Pricing System (OPBS) is a federally-regulated system for industrial GHG emitters (such as cement, or steel producers) in Canada. Under this system, the federal government sets a GHG emission standard benchmark. Emitting above the benchmark results in a legal obligation to either pay a fee per tonne of excess CO2e emitted, or purchase and retire the equivalent amount of carbon credits.
Sinks: a carbon sink actively absorbs (sequesters) carbon. Examples of carbon sinks are living trees, shrubs and soils.
Sources: carbon sources produce or release carbon into the atmosphere. Some examples of carbon sources are decomposing standing dead trees and fallen dead trees.
Reservoirs: carbon reservoirs store carbon. Examples of carbon reservoirs are standing trees and soil. Many elements of nature, like trees, can move between being Source, Sinks and Reservoirs.
GHG reductions credited represent actual reductions.
Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) are gases that naturally occur in the atmosphere and trap heat from the sun. The increased build up of these gases in the atmosphere causes global temperatures to rise and the global climate to change. Some common GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO₂.), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆).
Global Warming Potential (GWPs) is a way to compare the ability of each GHG to trap heat in the atmosphere to another gas’s ability to do the same. GWP is the factor used when converting greenhouse gas emissions into CO₂e.
Indigenous means native to the area. In this sense, Aboriginal peoples are Indigenous to Canada.
Leakage refers to the risk that GHG emissions reductions due to the project activity (such as conserving an area of forest) in one area would simply shift GHG emission releases to another area (such as logging another area), resulting in no net change in emissions.
Monitoring is the collection and evaluation of data from a routine check of a carbon project to see that the project is effectively meeting its targets and functioning as designed. For example, on-the-ground monitoring in a project designed to avoid logging emissions, to confirm no more forest has been removed than was in the project plan and protocol, and confirm the project is being implemented and managed as described in the project plan.
Permanence is the maintenance of carbon storage for at least one century from the start of the project. However, this depends on the methodology; some allow shorter permanence timeframes.
Project Developer is someone whose role is to conduct an initial feasibility assessment, manage project documentation, write and negotiate purchase contracts, model baseline and project emissions, manage the third-party validation and verification processes, register the offsets and sell them. A project developer can be a hired professional who is involved in the project to successfully generate carbon credits.
Project proponent is a person who submits, through a validation body, a plan for an emissions offset project that the person proposes to or does carry out [7].
Project area is the area where activities related to the carbon project occur [8]. Defining the project area is one of the first tasks for a community considering a carbon project. An economically feasible project requires that the project area be large enough and have enough carbon storage and sequestration ability to cover the costs of management and monitoring over the commitment period and generate a profit.
Project plan is a written document in accordance with a protocol and regulations for the purpose of carrying out a carbon project. It usually contains elements, such as: project purpose, boundary, baseline scenario, and selected emission sources and pools etc.
Project scenario defines the activities that will occur under the carbon project to remove or reduce emissions. The project scenario is used to estimate the emissions reduction relative to the baseline scenario.
Protocol (also known as a methodology) refers to a set of guidelines and procedures associated with a particular carbon project activity (e.g. improve forest management) that define how the project will measure, calculate, verify and report the reduction or removal of GHG emissions. Protocols are specific to their underlying carbon offset standard. Once the GHG emission reductions of a project have been achieved, quantified, and verified as carbon credits under the requirements of a protocol, the carbon credits are issued by the offset system, such as a compliance market or voluntary market and may be sold to an interested party.
A Reconciliation Agreement between a First Nation and the provincial and/or the federal government outlines an intention to work together on decisions around land use guided by principles of the UN Declaration, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and other pivotal sources of guidance. These agreements provide a means to work towards social and economic equity without nations having to go through the lengthy and costly process through the courts.
A Reversal is when carbon that is stored in a forest is released by activity such as logging or road building or emitted into the atmosphere through a lightning-caused fire or an insect outbreak that kills trees. Unplanned releases of carbon emissions threaten the permanence of a land based carbon project.
Retirement occurs when a carbon credit has been redeemed for its GHG benefit, and is used to offset 1 tCO₂e by the final buyer. This specific carbon credit is classified as retired in the market, which means that it cannot be traded again to avoid double counting of the GHG benefit.
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Sequestration of biological carbon is the process of capturing, securing and storing of CO₂ from the atmosphere in grasslands or forests, as well as in soils and oceans. A carbon credit represents one tonne of CO₂e already stored through the implementation of a carbon project.
United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) is an international human rights instrument that affirms and sets out a broad range of collective and individual rights that constitute the minimum standards to protect the rights of Indigenous peoples and to contribute to their survival, dignity and well-being.
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Validation is a requirement for a project before its implementation. This step consists of having an accredited third party review the project plan to determine whether the project can be expected to successfully generate carbon credits if it is delivered according to the project plan and to ensure it is free of conflicts of interest.
Verification provides credibility and transparency of a carbon project’s claims in a way that is easy to understand by concerned entities such as regulatory bodies, governments, the public, investors, and market actors. An accredited third-party must verify a carbon project’s performance. Carbon credits can be issued following a successful verification.
Voluntary Carbon Markets exist outside government-mandated compliance programs and enable businesses, governments, and individuals to purchase carbon offsets voluntarily for purposes other than a legal obligation to reduce GHG emissions, such as corporate social responsibility (such as Shell purchasing from the Tŝilhqot’in National Government [9]. Voluntary carbon offset standards include Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard, the Gold Standard, and the American Carbon Registry.
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Natural Climate Solutions or Nature-based Solutions are generally understood as human actions that work with nature to address the climate and biodiversity crises. Often this is achieved through the protection of natural ecosystems and the restoration of degraded ones. Natural climate solutions support human social-ecological systems.
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Sources, sinks, and reservoirs need to be identified and quantified for both the baseline and project scenarios in order to determine baseline emissions vs. project emissions.
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![Bird eye view of a forest and river]()
About the Forest Carbon Community Toolkit
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Module 1: Climate Change & Natural Climate Solutions
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![A winter forest]()
Module 2: Carbon Markets and Carbon Offsets
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![People, Drums and Fire]()
Module 3: Implementing and Upholding Indigenous Carbon Rights, Ownership & Entitlement
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![Caribou pack running in snow]()
Module 4: Opportunities, Barriers & Case Studies
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![Two person in forest]()
Module 5: Planning Your Carbon Project
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Glossary
