The Verra Registry now features a new option in the “retirement reason” category, titled “corporate emissions inventory accounting.” Companies can select this retirement reason to indicate that the emission reductions or removals represented by the retired Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) will be used in their corporate emissions inventory accounting, rather than to offset emissions.
Verra implemented this update as an interim solution to increase transparency around the use of VCUs and to decrease the risk of double counting (i.e., where the same VCU is used both as an offset and accounted for in a corporate’s emissions inventory).
Companies are increasingly making science-based climate commitments and setting corporate emissions targets. Verra plans to launch a Scope 3 Program, which will include an assurance framework for emission reductions and removals intended for use in company emissions inventories. Until then the “corporate emissions inventory accounting” retirement reason enables companies to use the Verified Carbon Standard Program to certify emission reduction and removal projects in their supply chains, and reduces double-counting risks through increased transparency into how VCUs are used. However, companies should follow the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s (GHGP) requirements for reporting the impacts of their interventions in their corporate greenhouse gas inventory. (1)
Selecting “corporate emissions inventory accounting” as a retirement reason does not provide verification that the emission reductions or removals occurred within a specific company’s emissions inventory boundary, or that the emission reductions or removals have been appropriately accounted for within the company’s emissions inventory; these topics will be addressed in the Scope 3 Program assurance processes. As an independent standards setter, Verra does not provide any assurance or verification of any claims regarding the use of retired or canceled VCUs.
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(1) Note: The GHGP currently allows carbon credits to be used as a contractual mechanism for tracking, verification, and quality control” for emission reduction and removal projects in company emissions inventory accounting. For more information, please see Box 13.1 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Draft Land Sector and Removals Guidance (2022).