Forest Carbon Market RFI.pdf

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Request for Information: Forest Carbon Markets

COMMBUYS Bid # BD-27-1042-ENV-ENV01-134205

Project # FY27RES0001 Issue Date: October 6, 2026

Respondents to this Request for Information (RFI) are invited to respond to any or all of the questions in this document. Responses to this RFI shall serve solely to assist the Commonwealth in understanding the current state of the marketplace with regards to the solicited information or to inform the development of a possible solicitation for a Request for Responses (RFR) or other procurement in the future. This RFI does not in any way obligate the Commonwealth to issue or amend a solicitation or to include any of the RFI provisions or responses in any solicitation. Responding to this RFI is entirely voluntary and will in no way affect the Commonwealth’s consideration of any proposal submitted in response to any subsequent solicitation, nor will it serve as an advantage or disadvantage to the respondent in the course of any procurement that may be subsequently issued or amended.

This is a single document associated with a Request for Information (RFI) that can be found on www.commbuys.com. Interested parties are responsible for reviewing and adhering to all information, forms and requirements for the RFI.

https://www.commbuys.com/bso/bid/bidSummary.sda?docId=BD-27-1042-ENV-ENV01-134205

Background

Massachusetts has established climate, conservation, and biodiversity commitments, including achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 and protecting 30% of the Commonwealth’s land by 2030 and 40% by 2050. Meeting these goals requires doubling the pace of conservation and identifying additional, sustainable sources of funding to support these efforts. Through initiatives such as Forests as Climate Solutions, the 2023 Recommendations of the Climate Chief, the Clean Energy and Climate Plans for 2025/2030 and 2050, and the Biodiversity Goals for Massachusetts, the Commonwealth has identified forest conservation and management as important tools in increasing carbon sequestration, protecting biodiversity, and advancing climate commitments.

The Commonwealth is exploring whether, and under what circumstances, high-integrity forest carbon projects involving changes in forest management (including improved forest management, and changes identified by state agencies from active management to passively managed forest reserves), permanent land protection (including to avoid land conversion), or related approaches are feasible, evaluated in the context of management approaches currently in place, and could provide additional funding for conservation to support state commitments. The scope of the Commonwealth’s interest includes both state-owned and privately owned lands.

Massachusetts has over 2.9 million acres of forested land, comprising 57 percent of the state. Approximately 64 percent of forested land is under private ownership and approximately 36 percent is publicly owned. The state owns about 18 percent of forested land which is under the care and control of three divisions within two state agencies -- 143,000 acres under the Department of Fish & Game’s Division of Fisheries & Wildlife;

280,000 acres under the Department of Conservation and Recreation Division of State Parks & Recreation and 93,677 under its Division of Water Supply Protection. On average in recent years the state has actively managed 1,149 acres via timber harvesting per year.

Approximately 110,000 acres of DCR Division of State Parks & Recreation lands are designated as forest reserves managed passively with limited active intervention.

Through this RFI, the Commonwealth seeks information from entities experienced in forest carbon credit markets regarding the developer landscape, potential revenue, project feasibility and structure, long-term management, and project integrity. Issuance of this RFI does not represent a decision by the Commonwealth to develop or sell forest carbon credits. Responses may inform a potential future competitive procurement process.

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/forests-as-climate-solutions https://www.mass.gov/info-details/recommendations-of-the-climate-chief https://www.mass.gov/info-details/recommendations-of-the-climate-chief https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-clean-energy-and-climate-plan-for-2025-and-2030 https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-clean-energy-and-climate-plan-for-2050 https://www.mass.gov/info-details/biodiversity-goals-for-massachusetts

RFI Procurement Calendar

Responses must be submitted electronically via www.commbuys.com.

Activity Due Date RFI release 10/6/2026 Vendor questions due (optional) 10/13/2026 at 5:00 pm Responses to vendor questions posted online 10/20/2026 Deadline for response via COMMBUYS 10/30/2026 at 11:00 am

Requested Information

1. Developer landscape and relevant experience

a. Describe your organization’s role in the forest carbon market, including the services you provide directly and those provided by partners or subcontractors.

b. Summarize your relevant forest carbon project experience, including project type, voluntary or compliance market, methodology or standard, acreage, landowner type, current project status, and any third-party credit rating.

Highlight experience with public lands, active-to-passive forest management, improved forest management, forest reserves, aggregation of multiple parcels, and aggregation of parcels with multiple owners.

c. Provide your perspective on the principal advantages, limitations and eligibility constraints of the various forest carbon methodologies, particularly with respect to conditions relevant to Massachusetts forests.

d. Detail your experience in avoided conversion to development projects, including assessment of conversion risk, acquisition and valuation of conservation easements, parcel aggregation. advanced measurement, reporting, and verification.

e. Detail your experience in stacking the value of ecosystem co-benefits, including increasing climate resilience, preserving critical areas for biodiversity, maintaining or improving water quality, providing public access, or protecting cultural or indigenous landscapes. How might these approaches be relevant in Massachusetts?

https://www.commbuys.com/bso/bid/bidSummary.sda?docId=BD-27-1042-ENV-ENV01-134205

2. Feasibility and revenue potential

a. What is a typical development sequence for determining forest carbon project feasibility? What are common bottlenecks in the process? Please address minimum efficient scale, minimum parcel size, and aggregation of non-contiguous lands or public/private partnerships.

b. How do you estimate annual credit volume, development and verification costs, time to issuance, sale price, monitoring costs, and net revenue?

Please identify the assumptions that most affect these estimates. Please provide estimates for state lands, based on available information

c. What credit attributes are most important to buyers? What credit attributes are most likely to be associated with price premiums? Please include market scans or other information that illuminates buyer preferences.

d. What opportunities or constraints arise from combining forest carbon credits with other nature-based credits or conservation transactions or actions, such as easements or forest reserves?

3. Project and procurement structure

a. Describe the typical allocation of responsibilities, typical costs, and typical allocation of costs among the project developer and other parties for feasibility assessment, project development, credit issuance, sale, monitoring, reporting, and verification.

b. Describe common approaches to buyer identification, structuring offtake agreements, financing, compensation, and allocation of risk. What structures would be most appropriate for a state-land project, a project on privately owned land, or a project with multiple owners?

c. What information, project parameters, evaluation criteria, or procurement terms should the Commonwealth include in a potential future RFP to attract qualified respondents and obtain robust proposals for high-integrity projects?

d. Please list the contracts, easements, and other legal arrangements that are likely to be required among the project developer and other parties.

4. Integrity, carbon accounting, and risk management

a. What issues related to additionality, baselines, permanence, leakage, voluntary vs. compliance markets, and carbon accounting are most important for forest carbon projects, including where the state has its own net-zero commitments?

b. What sources of uncertainty most affect quantification of carbon credits, and what data, measurement, reporting, verification, or conservative assumptions do you use to manage them?

c. Describe your experience with credit-rating agencies, dynamic baselines, pre-issuance due diligence, and project criteria that exceed minimum methodology requirements, such as more conservative baselines.

d. How should risk be allocated if a project is infeasible, underperforms, fails to generate or sell credits, or experiences pest, disease, severe weather, wildfire, or other natural disturbance? What tools, including buffers, insurance, guarantees, or other mechanisms, have you used to manage these risks and questions around indemnification?

5. Market outlook

a. What near, medium-, and long-term changes do you anticipate in voluntary and compliance carbon markets that are most relevant to the feasibility, integrity, pricing, or sale of forest carbon credits from state-owned lands?

From privately owned lands?

6. Additional information

a. What questions did we not ask that are important to consider? Please provide additional information that may be relevant to this RFI. This might include case studies, academic studies, or third-party resources, for instance.

b. Respondents may be requested to provide additional information or clarification, prepare presentations, or attend a meeting regarding this RFI.