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Verra’s Approaches to Durability

Verra's Approaches to Durability

Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) and Geological Carbon Storage (GCS) projects play a vital role in advancing climate action. Unlike other project types, however, they face a risk of reversals (i.e., the risk that carbon stored in carbon pools such as above-ground biomass, soil, or geologic reservoirs will be released back into the atmosphere). Carbon reversals may be caused by events like fire or other land use changes or by poor project management.

In GCS projects, there are risks that carbon will be released back to the atmosphere due, for example, to leaks from geologic reservoirs or lack of funding to support proper site closure.

To date, Verra has addressed the risk of reversals in these projects through pooled buffer accounts: one for AFOLU projects and one for GCS projects.

Proponents of AFOLU and GCS projects use the AFOLU Non-Permanence Risk Tool (NPRT) or GCS NPRT to assess internal risks (e.g., project management risks), external risks (e.g., political risks), and natural risks (e.g., fires or other natural events). This assessment determines the non-permanence risk rating for each project.

The non-permanence risk rating of a project is, in turn, used to determine the number of credits that the project must contribute to the pooled buffer account. Projects with higher risk ratings must contribute a greater quantity of credits to the buffer, while projects with lower risk ratings contribute a smaller quantity. Buffer credits are not considered Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) and cannot be transferred or sold.

If a reversal occurs in an AFOLU or GCS project, buffer credits are canceled from the pooled buffer to maintain the environmental integrity of the overall system. The number of buffer credits canceled is based on the size of the total reversal. The size of a reversal is calculated as the difference between the current total to-date net reductions and removals of a project and the total to-date net reductions and removals of the project at the previous verification.

The full rules and requirements related to the pooled buffer approach are set out in the Registration and Issuance Process (available on the VCS Program Rules and Requirements page).

New Approaches to Managing Durability

As of December 2025, Verra is also piloting innovative approaches to addressing durability in AFOLU and GCS projects, specifically an insurance or a fund-based approach.

Using one of these novel approaches instead of contributing to the pooled buffer account may help projects decrease upfront costs and diversify options for managing reversals. This can, in turn, drive demand for VCUs from buyers who are familiar with how these mechanisms operate in other established markets and unlock higher levels of carbon finance for projects.

Insurance is a well-known and highly regulated risk management mechanism common in most financial markets. Verra is therefore offering an insurance option under the pilot, where proponents purchase an insurance policy that will be triggered upon the confirmed occurrence of a reversal. The policy must provide a minimum liability coverage equal to the total number or value of VCUs issued while the policy is in effect. To be eligible for the pilot, the insurance policy must meet the minimum criteria established by Verra.

Verra has approved insurance policies offered by the following insurance carriers:

Project proponents should engage directly with the listed carriers to obtain insurance for their projects

For the fund-based approach, proponents sell VCUs and set aside a portion of the proceeds in a fund that could be used in the event of a confirmed reversal. The fund may be managed by the project proponent, a group of project proponents, or other market actors. To be eligible for the pilot, the fund-based approach must meet the minimum criteria established by Verra.

How It Works

VCUs issued to projects using one of the above approaches in the pilot phase will be marked with an Innovation label to transparently disclose the innovative approach that the project is piloting.

If a project experiences a reversal during the piloting phase, Verra will mark the affected VCUs as reversed until the insurance or fund-based approach enables the replacement of the reversed units. Verra will also notify affected account holders. Account holders cannot transfer, retire, or cancel VCUs marked as reversed.

Where replacement does not occur, the VCUs will continue to be marked as reversed.

Participating in the Pilot

  • Project proponents may submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to Verra. EOIs are accepted on a rolling basis and should outline the project’s motivation for participating, a brief project summary, the chosen alternative approach, and, where available, supporting evidence of that approach. Learn more in the Overview and Application Process document.
  • Participating projects must include the Durability Pilot – Project Participation Details appendix in their project documentation, where the project is not using the VCS version 5 templates.
  • Verra hosted a webinar on the durability pilot in May 2026. You can watch the recording to learn more about the piloting process.
  • As the pilot progresses, Verra will circulate findings from the piloting process among key stakeholders in the voluntary carbon markets.

Next Steps

  • At the conclusion of the pilot, Verra will evaluate the piloting experience and outcomes and use these findings to decide whether to implement alternative approaches to non-permanence risk at the program level on a permanent basis.
  • If alternative approaches are adopted at the program level, Verra will update relevant VCS Program documents (including the VCS Standard and Registration and Issuance Process) to reflect the new requirements.
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