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Knowledge base

Baseline, boundary and emission estimates

The DPD defines the project boundary, the baseline scenario and estimates of net reductions or removals, all following the applied methodology and the principle of conservativeness.

ProjectsLast reviewed 23 October 2026

Project boundary

Define the physical or geographic limits of the project, the significant gases and sources under the IPP’s control, and the coordinates of facilities or measures. Justify any source, sink, reservoir or gas you exclude, and quantify emissions separately by source. All CPAs of a Programme of Activities must lie within its boundary.

AFOLU projects identify each land segment uniquely and show legal control of it.

Baseline

The baseline scenario is the realistic scenario of what would happen without the project. Set it using the Carbon Standard, the methodology and the tools, taking account of regional, national and sectoral policies. Baseline values and assumptions must be conservative. AFOLU projects may use the methodology or the IPCC 2019 Guidelines. A Programme of Activities justifies the baseline for each CPA.

Estimating reductions and removals

  • Give average annual and total estimates, following the methodology.
  • Explain each calculation step and cover all relevant sources, sinks and reservoirs, including leakage.
  • Justify the scenarios and default values chosen. Values fixed ex-ante need not be monitored.
  • Sampling follows the CDM Sampling and Surveys Standard.
  • Use IPCC AR4 Global Warming Potential values.
  • AFOLU projects cover all five carbon pools (above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, dead wood, litter and soil organic carbon) and determine their reversal risk.

Sources

The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, with SDG 13 Climate Action highlighted. Every CR-I project contributes to at least four SDGs, including SDG 13.