COTONOU, Benin – Verra today shared a wrap-up of a two-day capacity-building workshop held last month in Benin, one of many similar events being planned around the world. The agenda covered a comprehensive range of topics, including a detailed overview of the process of obtaining Article 6 labels on the Verra Registry, Verra’s new cookstove methodology, and the recently released REDD methodology. Verra is planning further capacity-building activities around the world as part of its Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with various national and subnational government organizations.
“This workshop was one of the committed activities of the agreement signed in December 2022 at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh with the Government of Benin, represented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and is being implemented to build capacity across all involved ministries and agencies to ensure they are all on the same page regarding their understanding of the carbon markets. This is aligned with Verra’s strategy to advance the use of our standards programs by governments to achieve increasingly ambitious climate and sustainable development goals.”
“The workshop highlighted the commitments outlined in Benin’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the ongoing cooperation between Verra and Benin’s Carbon Project Registration Authority (AEPC) to support project integrity, regulatory readiness under Article 6.4, and registry integration,” said Adidjatou Hassan, president of AEPC.
The workshop, held June 18 through 20, 2024, focused on the benefits of certifying projects with Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, the world’s leading greenhouse gas crediting program. It brought together government representatives, international organizations, and NGOs to align on key issues related to voluntary and compliance markets. Attendees discussed the growing international demand for carbon credits, the relevant reporting requirements under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, and the specifics of projects’ registry and reporting obligations. Additionally, the event emphasized the commitments outlined in Benin’s NDCs.
Presentations featured the following topics:
- Initial market characterization and guidance for governments on how projects can support their NDCs under the Paris Agreement and how to develop projects by Heather McEwan, regional representative, Africa and the Middle East
- Overview of the project registry by Santhosh Prakasam, director, Verra Registry, and Evan Frazier, manager, Verra Registry
- Article 6 and Verra’s carbon credit labels by Andrew Howard, senior director, climate policy and strategy
- Validation/verification bodies by Janice O’Brien, director, auditing and accreditation
- Potentially useful methodologies for the country, including the highly flexible soil organic carbon methodology useful in agricultural settings (VM0042), by Chris Ajemian, program officer, agricultural innovation
- The jurisdictional approach to setting baselines under the new consolidated REDD methodology (VM0048) by Jacob Amoako, manager, REDD+ government and technical coordination
- New cookstove methodology (M0174) by Kranav Sharma, manager, industrial innovation
Contact:
Media Inquiries: Jeremy Warren | jwarren@verra.org
Program Inquiries: Angelo Sartori | asartori@verra.org
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Verra is a global leader helping to tackle the world’s most intractable environmental and social challenges. As a mission-driven nonprofit organization, Verra is committed to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect natural resources by working with the private and public sectors. We support climate action and sustainable development with standards programs and tools that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.