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We review seven certification systems for verifying carbon trading from forestry and other land uses, and evaluate evidence of their effectiveness in generating social and environmental co-benefits. Published research on non-carbon co-benefits was located by searching the three principal bibliographic databases in this area of science: CABI, ISI Web of Science Core Collection and SCOPUS. We included studies published in English from 2000 to 2016. Our searches yielded 679 studies after duplicates were removed. Of these 11 studies presented relevant results from projects that had been certified by one of the carbon certification standards. Although there is some evidence of positive impacts related to land use governance, local livelihoods and non-carbon ecosystem services, there were studies reporting negative aspects of carbon certification. Overall the evidence-base is very limited and there is a real need for more research on the social and environmental impacts of carbon certification standards.
