VCS is making changes to increase the ease of use of the Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Program. As a part of that process, we gathered feedback in a 60-day public comment period (7 November 2016 – 6 January 2017) on the following draft documents:

We have now summarized and responded to the public comments we received in the following document: Climate, Community & Biodiversity Program Update Public Comment Report. Thank you to all who submitted comments.

The public comment period did not lead to the need for any major revisions to the draft documents.  The CCB Steering Committee and the VCS Board of Directors will review and finalize the updates this quarter and we expect to release the updated and new documents in the second quarter of 2017. After the release, the updated Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards and Rules for the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards will be effective immediately. The two templates will be available for immediate use, but will not be required to be used until the end of a six-month grace period.