Verra periodically updates the rules and requirements for the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program to expand the program’s scope and to ensure it continues to reflect the latest science and technology. The following proposed changes were open for public consultation until 8 April 2022:
- Updates to the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) Non-permanence Risk Tool; if approved, these changes will also be reflected in the Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) Non-permanence Risk Tool;
- Updates to uncertainty requirements;
- Introduction of tonne-year accounting;
- Guidance for landowners’ successive participation in different VCS projects;
- Clarification on managing non-permanence risk if one instance of an activity ceases to be part of a grouped project and if a project implementing multiple activities terminates one of its activities; and,
- Revised requirements for qualifying peer-reviewed literature.
Please read the Proposed Updates to the VCS Program, February 2022 for detailed information. Read Additional Background Information on Tonne-Year Accounting for more details, including tonne-year quantification examples.
Verra received comments through 8 April 2022. Verra anticipates releasing the finalized updates to the VCS Program by the end of Q2/2022.
Webinar
On 16 February 2022 at 10:00 AM EST, Verra held a one-hour webinar to provide an overview of the proposed updates. Watch the recording here.
If you have any questions, please contact Matt Borden, Senior Program Officer (mborden@verra.org).