S3S Program Governance and Development

The Scope 3 Standard (S3S) Program is managed by Verra with input from the Scope 3 Standard Development Group, pilot partners, and other external collaborators.

Below is an overview of the S3S program’s development history:

• May 2022: Verra launches Scope 3 Initiative, which engaged over 100 stakeholders to explore how a Verra-led program could support increased climate action within corporate value chains.
• December 2022: Verra’s board of directors approves the development of the S3S Program.
• November 2023: Verra launches the S3S Program Development Group and begins drafting the S3S Standard and related program documents.
• August 2024: Verra engages corporate partners from the agriculture, apparel, construction, and communication services sectors to pilot the adaptation of methodologies and the implementation of draft program requirements and real-world data. In November 2024, additional pilots were added.
• March 2025: Verra launches a public consultation on version 0.1 of the S3S Program. Verra also creates a sponsorship program.
• September 2025: Together with SustainCERT, published “White Paper: Value Chain Interventions for Scaling Corporate Climate Action.”
• September 2026: Verra launches version 1 of the S3S Program to enable digital project listing via the Verra Project Hub and Registry.

Ongoing: Developing the next version of the S3S Program to enable validation, registration, verification, and Scope 3 Unit (S3U) issuance. Engaging with external standards and frameworks (including Science Based Targets initiative [SBTi], AIM Platform, Greenhouse Gas Protocol [GHGP], and Task Force for Corporate Action Transparency [TCAT]) to ensure compatibility with new and pending releases from these external initiatives.