New Project Activity Data Allocation (PADA) Fee for REDD Projects

As part of the transition to its consolidated REDD methodology, Verra is implementing a new fee for projects using Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Methodology VM0048 Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and VCS Module VMD0055 Estimation of Emission Reductions from Avoiding Unplanned Deforestation.

This Project Activity Data Allocation (PADA) fee – first announced as forthcoming when the consolidated methodology was released in November 2023 – covers new costs incurred by Verra, associated with VM0048’s jurisdictional baselines. That includes the collection of regional activity data, the review of that data by third parties, risk mapping and allocation, and administration of delivering allocated activity data to Avoided Unplanned Deforestation (AUD) projects. All projects using VM0048 and VMD0055 will be required to pay this fee to receive allocations of jurisdictional activity data once that data is available for their respective jurisdiction(s).

For many projects, Verra expects this fee to be lower than the costs of project baseline setting. At the same time, the new system delivers unprecedentedly high-quality data; is consistent with national approaches; and reduces any potential conflict of interest in the baseline setting process.

Low-resolution forest cover benchmark maps and risk maps will also be made publicly available at no cost for transparency purposes. High-resolution maps at project, jurisdictional, or global scales will be available for purchase at prices set on a case-by-case basis for use by ratings agencies or for due diligence. Finally, full data sets will be provided to governments for their own use at no costs.

The new Project Activity Data Allocation fee will be charged per project and will be paid by project proponents.

• Flat Fee: USD 10,000 per request plus USD 0.25 per hectare included in a submitted KML amounting to a maximum total cost of USD 150,000 per project, payable at the time of the request.
• Area Change Fee: Changes to project areas that have already had activity data allocated incur a USD 500 fee per request plus USD 0.25 per previously unallocated hectare (with a maximum 20% change in total area).

The consolidated REDD methodology employs a cutting-edge, high-integrity approach to setting project baselines, which are used to calculate a project’s emission reductions. Under this new system, Verra leads on establishing project baselines, based on data sourced from high-quality service providers in compliance with stringent accuracy requirements. That allows the carbon accounting of all AUD projects in a jurisdiction (e.g., national or first subnational unit) to be proportionate to the total deforestation in that jurisdiction, and factors in carefully analyzed deforestation risk information. Project baselines no longer use reference regions to project future deforestation, reducing the potential for any perceived or actual conflict of interest at the project proponent level. Instead, Verra allocates deforestation data directly to projects.