Verra has released a revised version (v2.1) of VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management (ALM) in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. This revision enables new projects using VM0042 to differentiate between Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) based on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and VCUs based on carbon dioxide removals.
Therefore, this revision enables new VM0042 projects to apply the appropriate mitigation outcome label to the VCUs they will generate. The mitigation outcome label, which was released in August 2023 as part of updates to the VCS Program, is a new market label for VCUs. Please see the Mitigation Outcome Type Labels Guidance, v1.2 (PDF) for more information.
VM0042, v2.1 also includes the corrections and clarifications issued in January 2024.
The corrections pertain to equations and parameters using default factors to quantify carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions from diverse ALM activities. The clarifications address, among others, data used to demonstrate common practice, requirements for soil sampling and analysis, and definitions of quantification units and strata relevant for project and sampling design.
Projects seeking to complete registration under VM0042, v2.0 must have requested listing on the Verra Registry before December 11, 2024, and complete validation by September 11, 2025.
Verra held a public consultation on this minor revision from April 5, 2024, to May 6, 2024.