Guidelines on the Establishment of the Carbon Accounting, Verification, and Certification System (CAVCS) for Forest Carbon Projects

DENR Administrative Order No. 2021-43

Subject: Guidelines on the Establishment of the Carbon Accounting, Verification, and Certification System (CAVCS) for Forest Carbon Projects

Signed: December 23, 2021 . Published: The Manila Times, January 18, 2022 . Acknowledged: ONAR, U.P. Law Center, January 19, 2022.

Purpose

Establishes a national system to account for, verify, and certify carbon sequestered and emissions avoided by forest carbon projects, in preparation for carbon markets and to reward private sector, government, and upland organization investment in forest protection and restoration. Also sets up a registry of all Philippine forest carbon projects.

Coverage

Forest carbon projects in forest lands, ancestral domains, private lands, and protected areas.

Principles

Based on PNS ISO 14064-2 and 14064-3 and IPCC Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF. Credits must be real, measurable, additional, permanent, and verifiable, with leakage assessed and managed. Participants may use CAVCS certificates to demonstrate commitments, meet carbon neutrality goals, and report GHG mitigation or corporate sustainability performance.

Eligibility

• Filipino citizens of legal age, Philippine-registered juridical entities, and SEC-registered international corporations.
• Proof of operational control over the site for the project duration: a tenure instrument or management arrangement with DENR, an SUC, or another government entity, or a certified copy of land title.
• Projects must be no older than five years and run for at least 20 years.
• Eligible activities: Forest Protection (patrolling, look-out towers, firelines, managing forest occupants) and Afforestation, Reforestation, and Restoration (plantations, mangroves, agroforestry, assisted natural regeneration).

Certificates

• Certificate of Existing Carbon Stock (CECS): recognizes baseline carbon stock on approval of the project plan.
• Certificate of Carbon Sequestered (CCS) and Certificate of Emissions Avoided (CEA): in tCO2e, valid five years, revalidated every five years on an approved Forest Carbon Assessment Report, and transferable by written agreement. All transfers are recorded in the registry.

Process

1. Letter of intent, concept note, proof of identity, proof of operational control, and land cover description submitted to the DENR Regional Office.
2. Regional TWG review and Letter of Acceptance.
3. Proponent prepares the Forest Carbon Project Plan (baseline, business-as-usual and project scenarios, leakage management).
4. Third-party validation and positive Assurance Statement.
5. RED approves the plan and issues the CECS.
6. Proponent implements and submits a Forest Carbon Assessment Report every five years, verified by a third party.
7. RED approves the report and issues the CCS and/or CEA.

Validation and Verification

Validators and verifiers must be accredited by DTI-PAB. Interim bodies registered under FMB criteria operate until DTI-PAB accreditation is established. Proponents contract and pay for validation and verification.

Registry and Institutions

FMB develops the CAVCS operations manuals and online registry and chairs a national CAVCS-TWG with BMB and ERDB. Projects certified under international standards are also logged in the registry for tracking but are not counted in CAVCS totals and need not repeat CAVCS validation.

Effectivity

Takes effect 15 days after publication and ONAR acknowledgment.

Relevance: provides a DENR-recognized route for corporate reforestation and forest protection commitments to produce certified carbon figures. See also DAO 2026-05 on voluntary forest carbon credit projects. Signed by Secretary Roy A. Cimatu. Summary prepared by EnviSynergy from the official DENR issuance; refer to the full text for binding provisions.