– ‘additionality’, a central component in most climate change markets. Tis term refers to whether or not an ecosystem service, in this case carbon, would occur or exist in the ab- sence of a given activity or project. Tis essentially means that carbon offsets can only be claimed if, without the project, the trees would not exist.

For a project to claim revenue from a service (in this case car- bon credits), additional benefits have to occur that would not

otherwise happen – something that combined PES schemes should consider.

Currently, ‘most PES programmes do not require that projects be additional in order to participate’ (Bennett 2010). How- ever, ‘assessing additionality is necessary for a PES scheme to achieve its environmental target with economic efficiency while maintaining investor confidence’ (op. cit.).

VITAL GRAPHICS ON PAYMENT FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES 57