All project activities with a potential impact on leakage are to be accounted for under the Gold Standard A/R Requirements. Market leakage is not accounted for.
Leakage causing activities (drivers) are to be accounted for including: collection of wood (firewood, charcoal etc.), agriculture (crop cultivation, shrimp cultivation etc.), timber harvesting, and livestock grazing. Depending on the activity chosen different formulas for calculation are implemented. Inter-ecosystem leakage must also be considered, particularly for landscape scale activities.
The Carbon Performance section of the A/R Requirements lists a number of compensation activities that project owners can undertake to make up for any leakage or event causing a reduction in the project carbon stocks in relation to the number of issued CO2-certificates over time. This includes replanting forests, planting of new areas, or purchasing Gold Standard credits from other projects (which can be from other project types such as renewable energy). In the interim period whilst carbon stocks are being restored an equal amount of credits will be put ‘on hold’ from the Gold Standard Compliance Buffer to cover the gap and ensure the integrity of the standard and all of its issued CO2 certificates.