Connect with Verra at COP28 in Dubai

• Thursday, November 30, 12:50–1:20 pm GST
• Location: Abu Dhabi Global Market Authorities Building, Abu Dhabi
• Host: Economist Group
• Verra staff: Robin Rix, Chief Legal, Policy, and Markets Officer

Since the creation of the concept of carbon markets and trading with the Kyoto Protocol at COP3 in 1997, the global carbon market has grown to €865 billion in 2022. However, markets are fragmented and cover less than a quarter of global emissions.

Carbon markets and carbon taxes have been criticized for failing to put a high enough price on carbon to drive significant emission reductions, and carbon offsets for not meeting expectations. With carbon pricing still considered to be one of the best tools to drive emission reductions, we ask our panel of experts how this system can be re-engineered to actually deliver on its promise.

• Friday, December 1, 4:00–4:45 pm GST
• Location: Uganda Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: 1mtn
• Verra staff: Sinclair Vincent, Director, Sustainable Development Innovation

• Saturday, December 2, 4:15–5:15 pm GST
• Location: Singapore Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: GenZero
• Verra staff: Robin Rix, Chief Legal, Policy, and Markets Officer

The road to harmonized rules might be a long one ahead but it is imperative that the carbon ecosystem continues this process of improvement and collaboration as collective action can go a long way in building greater confidence in the consistency of quality and standards.

This panel aims to bring together heads of crediting programs, policymakers, and standards to ruminate on their theory of change for Carbon Markets 2.0 and their plans for a rapidly evolving space that could be at its inflection point.

• Sunday, December 3, 9:00–10:00 am GST
• Location: SDG7 Global South Pavilion, Mobility District – Blue Zone
• Host: ACMI, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, Sustainable Energy for All, Rockefeller Foundation, ECA, UN Climate Change High-Level Champions
• Verra staff: Robin Rix, Chief Legal, Policy, and Markets Officer

In the global fight against climate change, carbon markets play a crucial role in incentivizing emission reductions and sustainability, but their long-term success centres on maintaining market integrity, ensuring equitable benefits for communities, and establishing robust policies and regulations. This session will address the vital role of policy and regulation in guiding carbon markets in Africa, as well as delve into the importance of maintaining integrity in carbon market transactions, addressing issues such as transparency, verification, and accountability.

• Sunday, December 3, 9:30–11:00 am GST
• Location: IETA Business Hub – Blue Zone
• Host: VNV Advisory Services
• Verra staff: Toby Janson-Smith, Chief Program Development and Innovation Officer

This panel discussion aims to delve into the unique challenges and success stories surrounding the financing of projects within the Nature Removal Pathway. As we navigate the complex landscape of climate action, understanding the financial aspects of initiatives aimed at removing and mitigating the impact of human activities on nature is crucial.

• Sunday, December 3, 12:00–1:45 pm GST
• Location: Opportunity Petal – Blue Zone
• Host: Aon/IETA
• Verra staff: Toby Janson-Smith, Chief Program Development and Innovation Officer

VCM represents an important piece of a bigger puzzle of solutions, which work together to accelerate the transition to lower carbon economy. While VCM may not be functioning perfectly today, it does offer immediate means to direct finance into projects around the world that reduce carbon emissions. High quality carbon credits are required to meet Net Zero targets that corporates have set—and to meet this demand, a new wave of high-quality projects are coming online today, designed and executed with greater levels of professionalism than ever before. And, now, perhaps for the first time ever, an entire ecosystem of players has also come together to emulate a mature market system.

However, the scale of the problem is enormous. We need a massive amount of funding to protect the world’s carbon sinks – that demands large-scale solutions. Jurisdictional approaches, country-level carbon trading, present an excellent opportunity to meet the scale of the demands. Sovereign activity could present the next step in the carbon markets’ maturation and growth journey. Insurance can help de-risk transactions and scale investment into quality projects.

Join us for a conversation as we bring together perspectives from across the entire ecosystem, including governments, financial institutions, corporates, and more, to discuss how we build trust and confidence to help the market evolve to drive urgent funding and real climate action.

• Sunday, December 3, 3:00–4:00 pm GST
• Location: Digital Innovation Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: KPMG
• Verra staff: Toby Janson-Smith, Chief Program Development and Innovation Officer

This industry panel will share perspectives about how dMRV and insurance together support the life cycle journey of the generation, monitoring, verification, insuring, and ultimate purchase and retirement of a high-integrity carbon credit.

• Monday, December 4, 10:00–11:00 am GST
• Location: Impact Hub (DP World Pavilion) – Green Zone
• Host: COP28 Presidency
• Verra staff: Judith Simon, President and Interim CEO

• Monday, December 4, 10:30–11:30 am GST
• Location: COP28 Dubai Expo – Blue Zone
• Host: RMB
• Verra staff: Toby Janson-Smith, Chief Program Development and Innovation Officer

• Monday, December 4, 12:00–12:30 pm GST
• Location: Expo City Dubai, Centre for the Planet Pavilion – Green Zone
• Host: Boomitra
• Verra staff: Angelo Sartori, Director, Regional Engagement

In this session we will delve into the transformative realm of soil carbon projects as catalysts for empowerment within developing communities, offering economic opportunities and environmental stewardship. We’ll spotlight a project that is restoring grasslands in Northern Mexico, the role of community engagement in driving impactful change, and how access to carbon finance can provide a financial incentive for local environmental stewardship efforts. 

• Monday, December 4, 2:00–3:00 pm GST
• Location: Pakistan Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: SEED
• Verra staff: Andrew Howard, Senior Director, Climate Policy and Strategy

• Monday, December 4, 2:30–3:30 pm GST
• Location: Climate Finance Hub, Emirates NBD Showcase Space – Green Zone
• Host: Emirates NBD
• Verra staff: Angelo Sartori, Director, Regional Engagement

This session will focus on the integrity and quality of carbon credits, emphasizing the usefulness of certification and the requirements and procedures that every project must follow to comply with the quality criteria required in the different types of carbon markets.

• Monday, December 4, 3:30–4:30 pm GST
• Location: Zero Carbon Future Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: The Rockefeller Foundation and the Coal to Clean Credit Initiative (CCCI)
• Verra staff: Toby Janson-Smith, Chief Program Development and Innovation Officer

The Rockefeller Foundation announced the Coal to Clean Credit Initiative (CCCI) in June with an aim to set a new comprehensive standard for the use of carbon finance to incentivize a just transition from coal to clean energy in emerging markets and developing economies.

Since then, the Initiative has submitted a draft methodology to Verra and has been advancing discussion with potential project developers and with offtakers of these credits, focused on sovereign buyers. Looking forward, broader engagement and collaboration is needed to ensure just transition finance can deliver on its intended outcomes: accelerating a high-integrity, managed, and equitable coal-to-clean transition this decade.

As the Initiative moves into a stage of soliciting public input on the methodology and testing the integrity and viability of its approach on real-world projects, this event will highlight the key challenges and opportunities ahead and what it will take to make robust implementation a reality.

• Tuesday, December 5, 11:00 am–12:30 pm GST
• Location: Blue Zone
• Host: Gaia Climate
• Verra staff: Angelo Sartori, Director, Regional Engagement

• Tuesday, December 5, 12:45–1:45 pm GST
• Location: IETA Business Hub – Blue Zone, Side Event Room (1st floor), OS07F2
• Host: Cercarbono
• Verra staff: Andrew Howard, Senior Director, Climate Policy and Strategy

The “Integrity of Voluntary Carbon Market” event, set within the COP28 framework, seeks to highlight the tangible progress made by standards in advancing the environmental integrity of certified climate change mitigation projects. This gathering at the IETA Business Hub aims to foster a deeper understanding of the evolving landscape of voluntary carbon markets and the crucial role that high-integrity standards play in addressing climate change.

• Tuesday, December 5, 4:00–5:30 pm GST
• Location: WCAS Theatre – Blue Zone
• Host: COP28 Energy Transition Team – Coal Platform
• Verra staff: Toby Janson-Smith, Chief Program Development and Innovation Officer

The COP28 presidency reinforces the global urgency for the phasedown of coal-fired power plants – which make up around 25 percent of global emissions – and recognizes the challenges in an energy transition away from coal for coal-dependent countries.

This initiative focuses on an innovative market-based solution – the use of transition credits, carbon credits generated from early retirement of coal plants in line with energy resilience and just transition considerations – and early action across transaction entities, including methodology developers and utility providers backed by country and corporate buyers, all to accelerate phasedown at scale.

• Tuesday, December 5, 6:00–7:30 pm GST
• Location: Women’s Pavilion – Green Zone, Level 1
• Host: Citi
• Verra staff: Judith Simon, President and Interim CEO

By leveraging private capital and aligning financial incentives with environmental goals, the World Bank’s Outcome Bond Program has successfully mobilized resources for sustainability projects. This event provides a unique opportunity to hear from the World Bank and other partners. It will offer insights into successes, challenges faced, and lessons learned along the way.

The session will be led by Stephanie Von Friedeburg, Managing Director, Development Finance Institutions Strategic Partnerships, Citi. Panelists will include Dana Mosora, Head of the ASASE Foundation; Judith Simon, President and Interim CEO, Verra; Michael Bennett, Head of Market Solutions and Structured Finance, World Bank Treasury; Poppy Allonby, Head of ESG at T. Rowe Price; and Steve Hardman, Chairman, Plastic Collective.

Please RSVP here.

Note: A COP28 Green Zone pass is required to attend this event. The Green Zone is open to everyone and the pass is free, but you must register for access on Tuesday, December 5: www.cop28.com/tickets. Once registered, you will receive a QR code to your email granting you access to the Green Zone.

• Wednesday, December 6, 2:00–3:30 pm GST
• Location: GASP Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: Boomitra
• Verra staff: Toby Janson-Smith, Chief Program Development and Innovation Officer

This panel aims to engage NGOs, government representatives, and policymakers in a vital conversation about the role of soil health in building a sustainable future. The discussion will focus on strategies for enhancing climate resilience, achieving food security, and leveraging the voluntary carbon market to incentivize soil carbon sequestration on a global scale. Panelists will offer diverse perspectives on advancing soil recarbonization efforts and outline collaborative approaches for NGOs and governments to catalyze and support these initiatives.

• Wednesday, December 6, 4:30–6:00 pm GST
• Location: IETA Business Hub Side Event Room
• Host: CarbonAi
• Verra staff: Benktesh Sharma, Senior Director, Technology Solutions

• Thursday, December 7, 1:00–1:45 pm GST
• Location: Future of Mobility Hub, DMCC, Dubai
• Host: HBar
• Verra staff: Benktesh Sharma, Senior Director, Technology Solutions

Embark on a transformative financial journey at the Hedera Regenerative Finance Forum, where finance meets sustainability and purpose. This groundbreaking event unites financial leaders, impact investors, innovators, and changemakers to explore how finance can be a force for good, promoting economic, social, and environmental regeneration.

• Friday, December 8, 3:00–4:15 pm GST
• Location: Brazil Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: Carbonext
• Verra staff: Naomi Swickard, Senior Director, REDD+ Program Development and Innovation

• Saturday, December 9, 9:30–11:00 am GST
• Location: IETA Business Hub – Blue Zone, Side Event Room (1st floor), OS07F2
• Host: IETA
• Verra staff: Angelo Sartori, Director, Regional Engagement

• Saturday, December 9, 2:00–2:45 pm GST
• Location: Estonia Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: 1mtn
• Verra staff: Heather McEwan, Senior Manager (Africa and the Middle East), Regional Engagement

Evaluating the success of nature-based carbon removal projects solely based on CO₂ reduction overlooks critical aspects such as preserving biodiversity and the broader social impacts they can have. This panel bridges the gap between technology, establishing standards, and analyzing real-life case studies in building a holistic approach to measuring impact.

• Saturday, December 9, 3:00–4:00 pm GST
• Location: Pakistan Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: OICCI
• Verra staff: Angelo Sartori, Director, Regional Engagement

• Sunday, December 10, 4:00–5:00 pm GST
• Location: Danish Pavilion – Blue Zone
• Host: Agreena
• Verra staff: Andrew Howard, Senior Director, Climate Policy and Strategy

This session brings together diverse perspectives to explore the intersection of science, technology, finance, and carbon policies and standards in driving the transition to regenerative agriculture among farmers.

Featuring short presentations from private market leaders, scientific experts, international carbon standard representatives, and a pioneering regenerative farmer, attendees will gain insights into the innovative strategies and opportunities for turning agricultural soils into carbon sinks.

Experts will have a lively panel discussion and participants can engage in a question-and-answer session to delve deeper into the potential of regenerative agriculture as a climate solution to accelerate sustainable change in our food systems with multiple benefits.