One concern around REDD+ is leakage, or the displacement of emissions (although this is not a concern exclusive to REDD+ or the forestry sector alone). Emissions in a specific area could be reduced by just displacing the activities that generate them out of that area, so emission reductions for which credits are issued would not be real.  

In most cases, leakage occurs as a consequence of poor program or project design. Under the FCPF Standard, deforestation and degradation drivers that may be impacted by the proposed ER Program measures are identified, and their associated risk for displacement is assessed, as well as possible risk mitigation strategies. ER programs are required to identify any residual risk of displacement out of the ER program area and to manage it accordingly through mitigation measures included in the program design and through monitoring of drivers of deforestation and degradation.

In jurisdictional REDD+ programs that cover an entire country, the issue of leakage or displacement is further addressed as the emissions are monitored and accounted for across the jurisdictional program area, so an activity`s emissions pushed from one area to another within the jurisdiction would be considered as part of the jurisdictional program´s emission estimates.  

Jurisdictional REDD+ programs under the FCPF must follow specific quality requirements for data and for uncertainty management. The residual uncertainty is taken into account through specific conservative discounts of emission reductions into an uncertainty buffer.

In the FCPF’s jurisdictional REDD+ programs, additionality is demonstrated by using a baseline that represents an average of historical greenhouse gas emissions and removals of activities within the jurisdiction over a period of 10 years. As emissions from the forest sector have historically had an upward trend prior to 2016, this is considered to be a conservative benchmark. If emissions are below this benchmark, they are automatically additional as they represent a reduction of emissions compared to the benchmark. This approach is simple, easy to understand, yet robust.  

Moreover, the FCPF Standard requires to demonstrate that the ER Program is ambitious and uses new or enhanced ER Program Measures to reduce emissions or enhance removals with regard to the baseline scenario.