Non-profits deliver more accurate forestry carbon credits than for-profits | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Non-profits deliver more accurate forestry carbon credits than for-profits Benedict Probst, Anna Neumann, Thales A. P. West, Lambert Schneider, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5982419/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Carbon credits from avoided deforestation projects have been criticised for overcrediting. Here, we investigate how the type of organisation implementing and validating the projects affects outcomes. We show that non-profits are more than twice as likely as for-profits to deliver carbon credits that represent real emission reductions. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Climate-change mitigation Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Economics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5982419","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":433767790,"identity":"ecc094b1-f01e-4f94-9642-73bd3343ea4e","order_by":0,"name":"Benedict Probst","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAxDBYwDhMAOxHBtUhrGBgBYJqBYDYyK1MCC0JDYQ0mLO3nvwwZsCuzoG6d6Hjwv+/Envk25g3Vzwi0G2H4cWy55zyYZzDJIlGGSOGxvPbDPIbZM5wHZ7Zh+D8Uwc1hjcyDGT5jE4IMEgkcYmzdsA1CKRwHabt4chccMBHFruvzH/DdfC88cgnQ2mZT8uLTd4zJgRWtgMEsBaeH4AbcHplxxjSaBfJNtkjjED/WJs2CZzsO32zAYJ4xk4bDFnP2P44c0fO35+6TZGYIjJycvPbj52u+CPjWw/Du/DAZsEjCXB2MDM2CaBTzFMJRKDmeEPETpGwSgYBaNgpAAAFYJS4+rD/2AAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1149-8938","institution":"Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Benedict","middleName":"","lastName":"Probst","suffix":""},{"id":433767791,"identity":"ae56e51a-a21b-494d-9c9a-b6cce5839728","order_by":1,"name":"Anna Neumann","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anna","middleName":"","lastName":"Neumann","suffix":""},{"id":433767792,"identity":"f74195f5-c359-4a7d-857e-50c9530031b8","order_by":2,"name":"Thales A. 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