Q3
Updates
- July 29, 2024: Verra has released the ABACUS Label Guidance, v1.0 (PDF). This is available on the VCS Rules and Requirements page. For more information about the ABACUS market label for VCUs, see the VCU Labels page.
Public consultations
Q2
Updates
- June 25, 2024: Verra has released an updated guidance document for project proponents who wish to apply W+ labels to VCUs issued to projects registered under the VCS Program and the W+ Standard. The W+ Label Guidance, v1.0 (PDF), is now available on the VCS Program Details page.
- May 29, 2024: New versions of the AFOLU Buffer Account Compensation for Reversals Deed Templates have been uploaded and are effective immediately.
- May 03, 2024: The new versions of the joint templates for projects using the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program are now available on the VCS Rules and Requirements page for the VCS Program. The effective date for the updated CCBS and VCS Program joint templates is January 1, 2025, for all joint project requests submitted to the Verra Registry.
- April 16, 2024: Verra has released an updated version of the VCS Standard, v4.7 and other VCS Program documents. With these updates, the VCS program expects to meet all the conditions for full approval of the VCS Program under the first phase (2024-2026 compliance period) of the Carbon Offsetting Reduction Scheme for international Aviation (CORSIA) and to clarify how the VCS Program aligns with the Core Carbon Principles assessment framework of the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM).
- The full list of updates and their effective dates can be found in the April 2024 Overview of VCS Program Update and their Effective Dates (PDF). Major updates include:
- Updates to the VCS Program safeguards requirements
- Updates to related to double selling and registration under the VCS Program and other GHG program
- Updates to the VCS project templates and representations
- Verra held a webinar on April 25, 2024 to provide an overview of the program updates for all stakeholders.
- View webinar recording: Overview of April 2024 VCS Program Updates (YouTube)
- For any questions, please contact programupdates@verra.org.
- The full list of updates and their effective dates can be found in the April 2024 Overview of VCS Program Update and their Effective Dates (PDF). Major updates include:
Q1
Updates
- March 21, 2024: An updated version of the Mitigation Outcome Type Labels Guidance, v1.2 (PDF) is now available on the VCS Rules and Requirements page.
- March 21, 2024: Verra issued a new version of the VCS Standard (v4.6) (PDF) that clarifies the program’s ecosystem health safeguards. As a result of these clarifications, Verra will permit the limited use of non-native monocultures in Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation (ARR) and Wetlands Restoration and Conservation (WRC) projects in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. These updates are effective immediately. Projects should continue to use the existing VCS project template versions to report on the above requirements and demonstrate conformance with sections 3.19.28 and 3.19.29 of the VCS Standard, v4.6 (PDF).
- February 23, 2024: Updated joint templates for projects using the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program are now available on the VCS Rules and Requirements page for the VCS Program. The effective date for the updated CCBS and VCS Program joint templates is April 1, 2024, for all joint project requests submitted to the Verra Registry.
- January 19, 2024: The AFOLU Buffer Account Compensation for Reversals Deed (Single PP), v1.1 and AFOLU Buffer Account Compensation for Reversals Deed (Multiple PPs), v1.0 templates are now available on the VCS Rules and Requirements page on the Verra website. These templates are effective for all proponents of AFOLU projects with non-permanence risk that request registration after January 1, 2024.
- February 12, 2024: An updated VCU Conversion Deed of Representation, v4.2, and Loss Event Representation, v4.2, are now available on the VCS Rules and Requirements page on the Verra website. The updated versions of these representations are effective immediately for all project requests submitted to the Verra Registry. For any questions, please contact registry@verra.org.