Happy Earth Day!

Today, Verra released version 4.1 of the VCS Standard. The update will help channel additional finance and investment into climate action throughout the world. It also ensures alignment between the VCS Standard and emerging mechanisms such as CORSIA and Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, while supporting corporates to set and achieve increasingly ambitious targets, including net zero and carbon neutrality.

This news closely follows last week’s release of v4 of the Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) Framework, which facilitates the integration of jurisdictional and project-based REDD+ to leverage the strengths of both approaches. Jurisdictional REDD+ efforts are likely to appeal to buyer/donor governments given the larger scale of reductions and removals that can be achieved, and project-level REDD+ efforts are likely to interest the private sector. You can learn more in our Briefer on the Future of REDD+.

The updates to the VCS and the JNR Framework demonstrate our commitment to environmental integrity and our vision for the Future of the Voluntary Carbon Market. Fundamentally, we see the voluntary carbon market as a key tool for solving the climate emergency by immediately incentivizing mitigation and driving sustainable development — and the VCS, being the largest and most extensive carbon crediting mechanism, is leading the way.

Complementing the ongoing evolution of carbon markets is the birth of a new one: the plastic market. In February, Verra launched the Plastic Waste Reduction Standard (Plastic Standard) to help companies that have maximized reductions in their own plastic footprints to invest in projects that collect and recycle plastic waste. Two methodologies have been approved (a Plastic Waste Collection Methodology and a Plastic Waste Mechanical Recycling Methodology), and several projects are in the pipeline.

On this Earth Day, we celebrate nature — as well as solutions that help us preserve it. Verra’s standards programs have had a great impact on climate mitigation and sustainable development, and we look forward to building on this work.

Sincerely,

David Antonioli
CEO

In Other News

Regular Updates

  • Quarterly Data & Insights Briefs – Q1/2021
      • Data & Insights – General

      • Data & Insights – Chile

      • Data & Insights – South Africa

Ticket Giveaway – Join us at the Future of Carbon Pricing Summit

On 27 April, Verra CEO David Antonioli and Chief Program Officer Naomi Swickard will speak at the day-long Future of Carbon Pricing Summit hosted by City & Financial. The event will bring together government, industry, investor, and advisory communities to discuss the practical implications of developments in carbon pricing and is open to ticket-holders only.

Verra is offering 8 full-day tickets to interested stakeholders. Please email us at communications@verra.org by Monday, 26 April, 9:00 AM EDT to request a ticket. We will randomly select 8 recipients from those who contact us by this time and notify them by 12:00 PM EDT.

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