To be effective, carbon credits need to be unique, real, permanent, additional, measurable, and third-party verified. The FCPF Standard ensures all credits generated in FCPF programs meet this criteria. The FCPF Standard is a carbon crediting standard of the FCPF Carbon Fund for the monitoring, reporting, verification, quantification and accounting of greenhouse gas emission reductions and wider environmental and social benefits achieved by REDD+ programs at the jurisdictional (national and subnational) scale.  The FCPF Standard is applied to Emission Reduction generated and certified under the registered REDD+ programs, whether paid for by the World Bank through its ERPAs or by third-party buyers of excess ERs.  

The FCPF Standard is composed of a number of regulatory documents which include the FCPF Methodological Framework and its guidelines and the guidance documents and templates. FCPF requirements are developed by a multi-stakeholder working group that includes the World Bank, FCPF participants, REDD+ countries, and observers to the FCPF. The Methodological Framework was initially adopted in 2013 and subsequently revised in accordance with UNFCCC decisions. The FCPF requirements are consistent with UNFCCC decisions including the Paris Agreement, the Warsaw Framework, and the Cancún Safeguards. The World Bank-managed FCPF Standard allows buyers to invest in carbon credits with confidence.