This Data & Insights brief provides information for January-March 2021 (Q1/2021) about project registrations and credit issuances and retirements under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program.
More Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) — 65,210,258 — were issued in Q1/2021 than in any previous quarter in the history of the VCS Program. After a slow start in January, issuances accelerated in February and March. In March alone, over 38 million VCUs were issued — 10 million more than any other single month.
In Q1/2021, 67.5% of issued VCUs were from the Agriculture, Forestry, and Land-Use (AFOLU) sector. This is roughly consistent with the trend in 2017-2019, when 60-65% of issued VCUs were from the AFOLU sector. In this context, last year’s figure (38%) appears to be anomalous.
The historical average rate of increase in retirements has been 6.5% from one quarter to the next. In Q1/2021, the rate increased 10.3% compared to Q4/2020.
*One VCU represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent that was removed from the atmosphere or not emitted.
Greenhouse gas equivalencies for emission reductions and removals were calculated using the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator
Region | Projects | Percentage of Total |
---|---|---|
Asia | 1,176 | 69.3% |
North America | 96 | 5.7% |
South and Central America | 259 | 15.3% |
Oceania | 8 | 0.5% |
Africa | 104 | 6.1% |
Europe | 54 | 3.2% |
Region | VCUs | Percentage of Total |
---|---|---|
Asia | 361,751,476 | 59.7% |
North America | 30,407,258 | 5% |
South and Central America | 128,613,276 | 21.2% |
Oceania | 2,008,511 | 0.3% |
Africa | 71,462,599 | 11.8% |
Europe | 11,211,164 | 1.9% |
Region | Projects | Percentage of Total |
---|---|---|
Asia | 48 | 23.8% |
North America | 10 | 5% |
South and Central America | 88 | 43.6% |
Oceania | 6 | 3% |
Africa | 50 | 24.8% |
Europe | 0 | 0% |
Region | VCUs | Percentage of Total |
---|---|---|
Asia | 88,948,248 | 33% |
North America | 4,390,794 | 1.6% |
South and Central America | 108,979,808 | 40.4% |
Oceania | 1,927,135 | 0.7% |
Africa | 65,688,730 | 24.3% |
Europe | 0 | 0% |
Type | Projects | Percentage of Total |
---|---|---|
WRC | 1 | 0.5% |
REDD | 79 | 39.1% |
ALM | 4 | 2% |
IFM | 21 | 10.4% |
ARR | 97 | 48% |
Type | VCUs | Percentage of Total |
---|---|---|
WRC | 28,981,028 | 10.7% |
REDD | 213,893,384 | 79.2% |
ALM | 325,825 | 0.1% |
IFM | 6,765,389 | 2.5% |
ARR | 18,560,515 | 6.9% |
ALM – Agricultural Land Management
ARR – Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegation
IFM – Improved Forest Management
REDD – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
WRC – Wetland Restoration and Conservation