Verra is moving toward a new era of scaling our impact, engaging more actively with our stakeholders, and achieving operational excellence to effectively advance climate action and sustainable development.
We have an enormous responsibility in the marketplace, and we take it seriously.
In September 2023, we identified three priority areas of focus based on our stakeholder listening tour and made commitments related to each. We’ve been busy since then.
Here are the latest updates on each commitment:
Operational Excellence
- Verra committed to a multiyear digitalization initiative to invest in the technology needed to significantly increase transparency and efficiency and scale up our operations. In Q3 2023, we delivered the Project Tracker, the first functionality of Verra’s Project Hub. In October 2023, we launched the digital version of our updated AFOLU Non-Permanence Risk Tool and Notice of Validation/Verification Services (NOVS) form. In Q4 2023, we will release a digital Project Submission Tool to a limited audience; we will refine and launch this tool to a broader audience in Q1 2024. Also in Q4 2023, a Project Location Review Tool will undergo internal review, with an external launch expected in Q1 2024.
- Verra is working diligently to define and execute service-level agreements (SLA) to provide our stakeholders with better service, consistency, and transparency in the project review process. SLA targets will be published in Q1 2024 and will include targets for Verra’s project review process as well as stakeholder query response and resolution. We are currently capturing baseline performance and response metrics to determine our roadmap for improving SLAs.
- In December 2023, Verra will launch a new stakeholder support function with a dedicated team responsible for quickly responding to stakeholder queries. We are now hiring and onboarding new team members as well as developing processes and tools for more efficiently receiving and responding to queries within the soon-to-be-defined SLAs.
- In January 2024, we will launch a validation/verification body (VVB) performance management program to ensure that projects seeking registration and/or issuance with Verra undergo high-quality audits. The program will include more training and support for VVBs and enhanced criteria for tracking the quality of VVB audits.
Enhanced Program Integrity and Impact
- In November 2023, Verra published the latest breakthrough in its forest protection portfolio: the newest REDD methodology, VM0048. This groundbreaking release, under development since 2020, incorporates years of scientific improvements and methodological advancements. It defines a new approach to calculating emission reductions from forest conservation activities. This significant update reduces the potential for any perceived or actual conflicts of interest at the project proponent level, enables greater quality control, and supports government action.
- In September 2023, Verra launched a new cohort of our VCS Program Advisory Group. This updated group of independent experts represents a cross-section of voluntary carbon market (VCM) stakeholders and will support continual improvements to the VCS Program, including the release of VCS Program, v5.0. The advisory group will add another layer of rigor and stakeholder insight to Verra’s program development process, in addition to the transparent public consultations Verra holds on all program updates, new methodologies, and changes to existing methodologies.
- In September 2023, Verra published the process, timelines, and sequencing for the periodic review of existing VCS methodologies. In December 2022, we announced our commitment to reviewing all eligible and approved methodologies every five years. This review process will ensure that all methodologies in the VCS Program remain usable and consistent with VCS Program requirements, market best practices (including the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles [CCPs]), and the latest scientific evidence.
- During COP28, Verra will launch the first phase of an independent research initiative with the Climate Crisis Advisory Group. This landmark measure will help shape the direction of the VCM and assess its climate, biodiversity, and social impacts. It will bring together respected and independent experts across regions and sectors to collaborate on a suite of research projects that add data, analysis, and perspectives to ongoing discussions in this critical climate action space.
Accountability
- Verra has enhanced its work with governments— particularly those in developing countries—to help channel finance and technology toward their work in meeting their Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement. We support capacity-building efforts, and we are increasingly providing technical support in areas as diverse as Article 6 transactions and data for REDD project baselines.
- We are in the process of extending our registry services to responsible, high-integrity partners to support the building of a large, impactful global carbon market.
- In partnership with one of our global NGO partners, we continue to hold consultations focused on learning from and engaging with Indigenous Peoples and local communities to inform Verra’s Nature Framework and its safeguards. Eight sessions will be completed by the end of 2023. We will use the learnings from this consultation to further update the social and environmental safeguards across all Verra programs. In 2024, we plan to develop a tool to facilitate the identification of social and environmental risks in Verra projects, supported by guidance for implementing and assessing safeguards and other core requirements such as grievance mechanisms, transparent benefit sharing, and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). This tool will also help proponents identify the sustainable development outcomes of their projects and align them with the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Verra is stepping up its work on plastics. We organized a well-attended side event at INC-3 in Nairobi to discuss Plastic Credits and their role in financing critical plastic waste management infrastructure, especially in Least Developed Countries. We are also a member of the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty to support the development of a treaty as a key policy mechanism that accelerates progress in three critical areas: the reduction of plastic production and use through a circular economy approach, increased circulation of all necessary plastics, and the prevention and remediation of hard-to-abate micro- and macro-plastic leakage into the environment.
We look forward to working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future.
