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Overview 
To learn more about how VCUs issued by Verra meet CORSIA’s requirement for additional assurance that no double claiming can arise, please see below (“Assurance of No Double Claiming”).
To learn more about the characteristics of acceptable insurance policies, download the criteria (PDF).
Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) are eligible credits for compliance with obligations under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) implemented CORSIA to keep global net CO2 emissions from international aviation at 2019 levels (so-called “carbon neutral growth from 2020”). This is achieved by offsetting any emissions above 2020 levels that remain after the use of sustainable aviation fuels and implementation of technical and operational improvements in the sector. The CORSIA program has established rules for determining the sector’s requirements for offsetting and allocating the offsetting obligation to airlines.
Obligations under the CORSIA program are effective for 2021 to 2035. Over 100 countries are participating in the current, voluntary pilot phase and this participation is expected to grow until 2027 when participation becomes mandatory for most countries in the ICAO framework.
The VCS Program is eligible for CORSIA’s pilot phase (2021-2023), first phase (2024-2026), and second phase (2027-2029), as stated in ICAO’s Eligible Emissions Unit (PDF) document. In principle, all VCUs are eligible under CORSIA, except for the exclusions detailed below. VCUs issued from 2021 onward will require an Article 6 Authorized – International Mitigation Purposes label to be eligible for use towards CORSIA.
Project proponents may request that a CORSIA label be applied to eligible VCUs as part of the issuance process or by specific request thereafter. CORSIA labels will be displayed on the Verra Registry to indicate which VCUs may be retired for CORSIA purposes. CORSIA-labeled VCUs are searchable in the Verra Registry under the “Additional Certifications” field. A CORSIA Label Guidance (PDF) document is available with detailed information on VCU eligibility for CORSIA and the process for requesting CORSIA labels.
Resources
Eligible VCUs under CORSIA
VCUs that meet each of the following conditions are eligible for use in the CORSIA pilot phase (2021-2023):
- Crediting period eligibility: The project’s initial crediting period start date is on or after January 1, 2016.
- Vintage eligibility: The emission reductions or removals occurred between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2023.
- Project/program type eligibility: Issuance is for one of the following cases:
- For an energy or industrial project or a geological carbon storage (GCS) project
- For an AFOLU project developed outside of a REDD+ country
- For an AFOLU project in a REDD+ country that is small in scale (i.e., was estimated at the time of project registration to generate less than 7,000 VCUs per year)
- For an AFOLU project that is located in a REDD+ country and that applies one of the following methodologies:
- VM0012 Improved Forest Management in Temperate and Boreal Forests
- VM0017 Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Land Management
- VM0021 Soil Carbon Quantification Methodology
- VM0022 Quantifying N2O Emissions Reductions in Agricultural Crops through Nitrogen Fertilizer Rate Reduction
- VM0024 Methodology for Coastal Wetland Creation
- VM0026 Methodology for Sustainable Grassland Management (and VMD0040 Leakage from Displacement of Grazing Activities)
- VM0032 Methodology for the Adoption of Sustainable Grasslands through Adjustment of Fire and Grazing
- VM0033 Methodology for Tidal Wetland and Seagrass Restoration
- VM0036 Methodology for Rewetting Drained Temperate Peatlands
- VM0041 Methodology for the Reduction of Enteric Methane Emissions from Ruminants through the Use of Feed Ingredients
- VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management
- For an AFOLU project under a jurisdictional program following Crediting Scenario 3 of the VCS Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) framework
- For an AFOLU project under a jurisdictional program following Crediting Scenario 2a of the VCS JNR framework
- For an AFOLU project in a REDD+ country that is small in scale (i.e., was estimated at the time of project registration to generate less than 7,000 VCUs per year)
- Sustainable development contributions reporting: The VCUs were issued to projects that have reported on their sustainable development contributions through one of the following:
- Using a monitoring report approved under the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program
- Using a monitoring report approved under the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta) Program
- For projects using VCS monitoring report templates v4.0 or earlier: Completing the latest template for the Sustainable Development Contributions Report
- For projects using VCS monitoring report templates v4.1 and later: Utilizing the most recently approved templates for the VCS Monitoring Report or Joint Project Description and Monitoring Report
VCUs that meet each of the following conditions are eligible for use in the CORSIA first phase (2024-2026):
- Crediting period eligibility: The project’s initial crediting period start date is on or after January 1, 2016.
- Vintage eligibility: The emission reductions or removals occurred between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2026.
- Characteristics of energy and industrial projects and geological carbon projects: Where the VCU was issued to such a project, the project meets the following conditions:
- Project activities involving grid-connected renewable electricity generation have an estimated maximum output capacity less than or equal to 15 MW of electricity, both individually or grouped.
- Projects falling under sectoral scope 16 apply VM0049 Carbon Capture and Storage in combination with VMD0056 CO2 Capture from Air (Direct Air Capture) and VMD0058 CO2 Storage in Saline Aquifers and Depleted Hydrocarbon Reservoirs.
- Projects falling under sectoral scope 16 conform to the Regulatory Scheme CORSIA Eligibility Requirements for Geological CCS Projects.
- AFOLU project characteristics: Where the VCU was issued to an AFOLU project, it was issued to one of the following:
- An AFOLU project developed outside of a REDD+ country
- An AFOLU project in a REDD+ country that is small in scale (i.e., was estimated at the time of project registration to generate less than 7,000 VCUs per year)
- An AFOLU project in a REDD+ country that applies one of the following methodologies:
- VM0012 Improved Forest Management in Temperate and Boreal Forests
- VM0017 Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Land Management
- VM0021 Soil Carbon Quantification Methodology
- VM0022 Quantifying N2O Emissions Reductions in Agricultural Crops through Nitrogen Fertilizer Rate Reduction
- VM0024 Methodology for Coastal Wetland Creation
- VM0026 Methodology for Sustainable Grassland Management (and VMD0040 Leakage from Displacement of Grazing Activities)
- VM0032 Methodology for the Adoption of Sustainable Grasslands through Adjustment of Fire and Grazing
- VM0033 Methodology for Tidal Wetland and Seagrass Restoration
- VM0036 Methodology for Rewetting Drained Temperate Peatlands
- VM0041 Methodology for the Reduction of Enteric Methane Emissions from Ruminants through the Use of Feed Ingredients
- VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management
- An AFOLU project under a jurisdictional program following Crediting Scenario 3 of the VCS JNR framework
- An AFOLU project under a jurisdictional program following Crediting Scenario 2a of the VCS JNR framework
- Sustainable development contributions reporting: The VCUs were issued to projects that have reported on their sustainable development contributions through one of the following:
- Using a monitoring report approved under the CCBS Program
- Using a monitoring report approved under the SD VISta Program
- For projects using VCS monitoring report templates v4.0 or earlier: Completing the latest template for the Sustainable Development Contributions Report
- For projects using VCS monitoring report templates v4.1 and later: Utilizing the most recently approved templates for the VCS Monitoring Report or Joint Project Description and Monitoring Report
- Regulatory Surplus: VCUs were issued for a project activity that is not mandated by law, statute, or another regulatory framework, regardless of whether it is systematically enforced.
VCUs that meet each of the following conditions are eligible for use in the CORSIA second phase (2027-2029):
- Crediting period eligibility: The project’s initial crediting period start date is on or after January 1, 2016.
- Vintage eligibility: The emission reductions or removals occurred between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2029.
- General project characteristics: The VCU was issued for a project that has quantitatively demonstrated that its baseline is set below the business-as-usual level of emissions or, for non-traditional activities (e.g., jurisdictionally allocated baselines), that the baseline avoids overestimating mitigation from the project activity.
- Characteristics of energy and industrial projects and geological carbon projects:
- Where the VCU was issued to such a project, the project meets the following conditions:
- Projects involving grid-connected renewable electricity generation have an estimated maximum output capacity less than or equal to 15 MW of electricity, both individually or grouped.
- Projects falling under sectoral scope 16 apply VM0049 Carbon Capture and Storage in combination with VMD0056 CO2 Capture from Air (Direct Air Capture) and VMD0058 CO2 Storage in Saline Aquifers and Depleted Hydrocarbon Reservoirs.
- Projects falling under sectoral scope 16 conform to the Regulatory Scheme CORSIA Eligibility Requirements for Geological CCS Projects.
- Projects do not apply VM0052 Accelerated Retirement of Coal-Fired Power Plants Using a Just Transition and VMD0060 Combined Baseline and Additionality Assessment for Accelerated Retirement of Coal-fired Power Plants.
Project activities that calculate the fraction of non-renewable biomass (fNRB) do not use CDM TOOL 30 to do so.
- Where the VCU was issued to such a project, the project meets the following conditions:
- AFOLU project characteristics: Where the VCU was issued to an AFOLU project, it was issued to one of the following:
- An AFOLU project developed outside of a REDD+ country
- An AFOLU project in a REDD+ country that is small in scale (i.e., was estimated at the time of project registration to generate less than 7,000 VCUs per year)
- An AFOLU project in a REDD+ country that applies one of the following methodologies:
- VM0012 Improved Forest Management in Temperate and Boreal Forests
- VM0017 Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Land Management
- VM0021 Soil Carbon Quantification Methodology
- VM0022 Quantifying N2O Emissions Reductions in Agricultural Crops through Nitrogen Fertilizer Rate Reduction
- VM0026 Methodology for Sustainable Grassland Management (and VMD0040 Leakage from Displacement of Grazing Activities)
- VM0032 Methodology for the Adoption of Sustainable Grasslands through Adjustment of Fire and Grazing
- VM0033 Methodology for Tidal Wetland and Seagrass Restoration
- VM0036 Methodology for Rewetting Drained Temperate Peatlands
- VM0041 Methodology for the Reduction of Enteric Methane Emissions from Ruminants through the Use of Feed Ingredients
- VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management
- An AFOLU project under a jurisdictional program following Crediting Scenario 3 of the VCS JNR framework
- An AFOLU project under a jurisdictional program following Crediting Scenario 2a of the VCS JNR framework
- Sustainable development contributions reporting: The VCUs were issued to projects that have reported on their sustainable development contributions through one of the following:
- Applying the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS)
- Applying the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta)
- For projects using VCS monitoring report templates v4.0 or earlier: Completing the latest template for the Sustainable Development Contributions Report
- For projects using VCS monitoring report templates v4.1 and later: Utilizing the most recently approved templates for the VCS Monitoring Report or Joint Project Description and Monitoring Report
- Regulatory Surplus: VCUs were issued for a project activity that is not mandated by law, statute, or another regulatory framework, regardless of whether it is systematically enforced.
To be eligible for CORSIA use, VCUs with vintages of 2021 onward must be from CORSIA-approved project types and have received an Article 6 Authorized – International Mitigation Purposes label. This label indicates that the host country authorizes the respective credit for use by airline operators under CORSIA and will apply a corresponding adjustment when accounting for its emission reduction targets under the Paris Agreement, so that these credits cannot be claimed toward countries’ climate targets under the Paris Agreement and airline operators’ obligations under CORSIA.
Information on Article 6 labels for VCUs is available in the Article 6 Label Guidance document.
For VCUs with vintages of 2021 onward, CORSIA requires additional assurance that no double claiming can arise. To receive a CORSIA-eligible label, VCUs must therefore demonstrate one of the following:
Option 1 – BTR Route: Evidence of a completed corresponding adjustment for the mitigation outcomes represented by the respective VCUs in the form of inclusion in a Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) submitted by the host country to the UNFCCC.
- Such evidence must be traceable to the relevant VCUs listed in the letter of authorization, including, at a minimum, the project ID, vintage, and approved quantity of VCUs.
Option 2 – Insurance Route: Where evidence of a completed corresponding adjustment is not yet available, the project proponent must demonstrate that the VCUs are backed by an approved insurance product by uploading the following to the Verra Registry:
- A CORSIA Accounting Representation Deed, signed by the project proponent, committing to compensate for affected VCUs in the event that a Letter of Authorization (LOA) or an attestation to the avoidance of double claiming is revoked or withdrawn by the host country or the host country does not apply a corresponding adjustment.
The following applies:- Project proponents must use the most recent version of the CORSIA Accounting Representation Deeds for projects with a single proponent (PDF) and for projects with multiple proponents (PDF).
- Where a project has more than one project proponent, the multiple project proponents deed must be used.
- Verra reserves the right to require evidence of authority to sign and evidence of any legalization requirements.
- A certificate of insurance for a Verra-approved insurance product with which the project proponent will be able to compensate for any affected VCUs.
The following applies:- The certificate of insurance must list the project proponent as the policyholder(s) and include, at a minimum, the policy number, the project ID, and the vintage and volume of VCUs covered.
See below for the list of approved insurance products.
- The certificate of insurance must list the project proponent as the policyholder(s) and include, at a minimum, the policy number, the project ID, and the vintage and volume of VCUs covered.
Verra has established criteria (PDF) for acceptable insurance policies and appointed the Howden Group (external) to support its assessment of whether insurance products meet them.
Insurers who wish to submit an insurance policy for review can learn more about the process on the Howden website (external) or by emailing carbonteam@howdengroup.com.
Verra has approved insurance products offered by the following insurance carriers:
- CFC Underwriting Limited (external)
- Oka, The Carbon Insurance Company (external)
- Artio Carbon Limited (external)
Each of the carriers’ products has been independently assessed by global insurance intermediary Howden to ensure they meet Verra’s criteria. Project proponents should engage directly with the listed carriers.