WASHINGTON — Verra, the nonprofit that serves as the leading standards setter for the voluntary carbon market, today announced it has completed a thorough review of the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project in Cambodia (Verra Project 1748) and taken the project off hold in the Verra Registry.
Verra’s review began in June 2023 following allegations by Human Rights Watch (HRW). Verra and the respective validation/verification bodies (VVBs) reviewed all project audits and concluded that the project’s authorized representative, Wildlife Alliance, demonstrated that it is taking the required actions to address all alleged harm, mitigate the risk of future harm, and continually improve the project. The project is now active in all three programs in which it is registered: the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program, and the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta) Program.
“Verra has determined that Wildlife Alliance has taken sufficient action to address the allegations, and the project has been taken off hold. To ensure human rights and community safeguards are preserved, we have also required ongoing actions and improvements to be implemented over the next year.”
During the review process, Wildlife Alliance took several steps, including the following:
- Revised and improved its human rights policy to integrate elements from the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Developed a new Values and Ethics Policy, Code of Conduct, and Anti-Retaliation Policy
- Provided training and workshops to necessary parties on human rights and the project’s new or revised policies
- Revamped free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) and stakeholder consultation processes to expand discussion topics, increase community representation, and introduce anonymous balloting for obtaining community consent
- Revised the feedback and grievance redress mechanism, including hiring a dedicated Conservation Communication Officer (CCO) and facilitating the election of community focal points
- Established new standard operating procedures related to the enforcement of Cambodia’s Environment and Natural Resources Code
Wildlife Alliance will submit a progress report in early 2025, demonstrating further actions it has taken to continually improve the project’s activities and operations. The full list of actions can be found in Verra’s Review Report on the Southern Cardamom REDD+ Project linked below.
“Verra takes allegations of human rights abuses extremely seriously, and we are committed to ensuring all projects we certify uphold high ethical standards,” said Seager. “This process is another example of Verra’s commitment to provide credible oversight and ensure greater integrity in Verra’s programs.”
Contact:
Media Inquiries: Jeremy Warren | jwarren@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.