Verra today announced suspension measures against the four validation/verification bodies (VVBs) involved in auditing the 37 rice cultivation projects in China that Verra rejected late last year. The affected VVBs are as follows: 

• China Classification Society Certification Company (CCSC) 
• China Quality Certification Center (CQC) 
• CTI Certification CO., LTD.
• TÜV Nord Cert GmbH (suspension measures only apply to validation and verifications for projects that are located in China) 

Specifically, the VVBs will be suspended from conducting all validation or verification audits of the following: 

• Projects that use a methodology under sectoral scope 14 Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program 
• Projects that are registered or are seeking to register under sectoral scope 1 Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) and sectoral scope 13 Oceans and Marine Resources in the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta) Program 
• Projects that are registered or are seeking to register in the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program 

The 37 rice cultivation projects were rejected after Verra identified serious issues, including insufficient demonstration of additionality, projects being inappropriately designated as small scale, project areas being overstated, and a lack of sufficient evidence to confirm the baseline scenario and project implementation.

The four VVBs involved in validating and verifying these projects were issued non-conformance reports regarding their failure to identify these issues. To close the non-conformance reports, the VVBs were required to identify the root causes of their failure to identify these issues and propose actions to prevent their recurrence. After careful review, Verra found the VVBs had not taken sufficient actions to prevent the issues from recurring.

Per the VCS Program Guide, the above VVB suspensions have the following implications for proponents that have contracted or are currently seeking to contract the affected VVBs:

• Verra will not accept any new project registration or verification approval requests that include validation or verification audits by the affected VVBs for the audit types from which they have been suspended. Affected projects that are listed on the Verra Registry as under validation have been notified directly of this decision.
• Verra will not approve existing registration and issuance requests that include audits by the affected VVBs for the audit types from which they have been suspended. Affected projects have been notified directly of this decision.
• Affected projects will need to hire another Verra-approved VVB to conduct a new validation or verification. The list of approved VVBs is available on the Validation and Verification page on the Verra website.
• Verra will grant affected projects extensions to their validation deadlines to allow time for the completion of new validations.

Verra will lift a VVB’s suspension if the following conditions are met:

• The VVB has successfully addressed the actions outlined in the nonconformity reports that Verra issued to the VVB.
• The VVB has met the reinstatement requirements listed in the VCS Program Guide.
• VVBs with pending ISO 17029/14065 applicant status have obtained accreditation in accordance with the requirements for becoming an approved VVB in the VCS Program (per the VCS Program Guide).  

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Verra is a global leader helping to tackle the world’s most intractable environmental and social challenges. As a mission-driven nonprofit organization, Verra is committed to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect natural resources by working with the private and public sectors. We support climate action and sustainable development with standards programs and tools that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.

Verra has opened a public consultation on a minor revision (methodology development ID #M0280) to Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) methodology AMS-III.BM.: Lightweight two- and three-wheeled personal transportation (external). The revised methodology would be published in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. The consultation will run from March 19 through April 18, 2025.

AMS-III.B.M. applies to project activities that help shift urban passenger transport to mechanical and electric bicycles and tricycles by developing supporting infrastructure, such as bicycle lanes, bicycle sharing programs, and bicycle parking areas. By facilitating the use of low-emission transport options, this methodology contributes to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved air quality, and decreased reliance on fossil fuel-powered vehicles.

The proposed revision expands the methodology’s scope to include other two- or three-wheeled electric vehicles (e.g., electric motorcycles and scooters). The revision also allows for the inclusion of business-oriented delivery and transportation services.

Please see the public consultation document (PDF) for the full background and details about the proposed updates.

Verra is accepting feedback through its new digital public consultation platform, which is hosted on the Verra Project Hub. Stakeholders will need to use the link provided to enter their personal details, confirm their email address, and access the online consultation form. For additional guidance, please review the user guide (PDF).

Comments may be submitted electronically via the online form by 11:59 pm Anywhere on Earth (UTC-12) on April 18, 2025. If you experience issues using the digital public consultation platform or have feedback on it, please contact hubsupport@verra.org.

Verra has released a clarification (PDF) to the effective date of versions 4.1 and 4.2 of the Non-Permanence Risk Tool (NPRT) for Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) projects. The clarification allows a project to use version 4.0 of the AFOLU NPRT for verification approval if it meets the following criteria:

1. The project requested registration before August 29, 2023
2.  The project is requesting verification approval only for vintages of 2022 and earlier

Project proponents in Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program use the AFOLU NPRT to assess risks and determine buffer pool contributions for their projects. Version 4.1 of the AFOLU NPRT was released on August 30, 2023, and was updated to version 4.2 on October 12, 2023.

This clarification enables a more seamless transition for projects that requested registration and prepared for verification approval for vintages of 2022 and earlier when version 4.0 of the AFOLU NPRT was still current.

Only version 4.2 of the AFOLU NPRT meets the assessment criteria of the Core Carbon Principles (CCP) Assessment Framework published by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM). Projects meeting the above criteria may still choose to use version 4.2 of the AFOLU NPRT if they seek to obtain CCP labels for the Verified Carbon Units they generate.

Eligible projects electing to apply AFOLU NPRT, v4.0 must follow the guidance provided in the clarification document.

Verra has released clarifications to two Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) methodologies for composting: ACM0022: Alternative waste treatment processes, v3.0 (external) and AMS-III.F.: Avoidance of methane emissions through composting, v12.0 (external). The two CDM methodologies apply to activities that reduce methane emissions from organic waste, with ACM0022 covering alternative waste treatment processes (e.g., composting under aerobic conditions, gasification, anaerobic digestion with biogas recovery) and AMS-III.F. covering controlled biological treatment through composting or anaerobic digestion in closed reactors.

The clarifications confirm that the methodologies, which refer broadly to composting projects, are also applicable to insect composting projects in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. The clarifications are effective as of February 14, 2025.

The primary clarification to each CDM methodology stipulates that composting under these methodologies covers any type of controlled aerobic biological treatment, including microorganisms, insects, earthworms, and others. Therefore, composting activities involving insects are also included in each methodology.

Insect composting is an alternative waste management practice with aerobic conditions; it reduces methane emissions when replacing anaerobic waste treatment practices that do not include methane destruction. This method transforms organic waste into compost and, depending on the process, may have additional benefits, such as offering substitutes (for example, in animal feed) for animal or crop-based protein sources that are associated with higher greenhouse gas emissions and use of land and other resources.

The clarifications to ACM0022 (PDF) and clarifications to AMS-III.F. (PDF) documents contain additional guidance, including on the following topics:

• Determination of the methane and nitrous oxide project emission factors
• Procedures for demonstrating additionality
• Use of the latest version of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) documents

At the start of 2025, Verra would like to share two important reminders with project proponents and validation/verification bodies (VVBs).

A number of project templates are now effective for all project requests submitted on or after January 1, 2025. These templates were introduced in an April 16, 2024, update to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, per guidance in the April 2024 Overview of VCS Program Updates and Effective Dates (PDF).

Several templates apply to projects in the VCS Program, and several are for projects jointly using the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program and the VCS Program. The templates are available in the Rules and Requirements section on the VCS Program Details page.

The effective date of January 1, 2025, means that all submissions of project documentation for any project request to the Verra Registry must be prepared using the updated versions of the templates.

Verra will not be granting exemptions to anyone using the old templates.

Verra would also like to remind stakeholders that a new Exemption Request Procedure was released on November 27, 2024. The procedure applies to projects in any of Verra’s programs, and it lays out the following criteria for what constitutes an acceptable exemption request:

• Exemption requests related to deadlines to initiate or complete pipeline listing, validation, verification, baseline reassessment, or crediting period renewal
• Exemption requests for projects to change VVBs
• Exemption requests related to VVB site visits at validation and verification

Verra will not grant exemptions for deadlines related to effective dates or grace periods of program updates, corrections and clarifications, or methodologies.

Please contact info@verra.org with any questions about the procedure. All exemption requests must be submitted to registry@verra.org.

Verra is resuming its review of Methodology Idea Notes (MINs) from methodology developers seeking to propose a new methodology or methodology revision in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. MINs submitted by January 31, 2025, will be reviewed by March 31, 2025. MINs submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed until after the next MIN submission deadline.

In July 2024, Verra paused the review of new MINs until Q1 2025 to focus organizational resources on work related to advancing key methodologies and reviewing previous submissions.

Verra has also opened a public consultation on proposed updates to its Methodology Development and Review Process. One suggested update is to formally establish a periodic review cycle for MINs instead of a continuous review process, which will allow Verra to effectively advance impactful climate action by delivering on priority methodologies that are under development. This consultation is open through January 31, 2025.

Depending on the feedback received during the public consultation, the next MIN submission deadline will likely be January 31, 2026. Verra would review MINs submitted by January 31, 2026, by March 31, 2026.

Verra has released clarifications that apply to procedural documents of all its programs, with the aim of streamlining the project review process. The Clarifications to Verra Program Rules and Requirements (PDF) document pertains to projects in Verra’s Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program; the Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) Framework; the Plastic Waste Reduction Program (Plastic Program); the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta) Program; and the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program.

These clarifications reflect the recent streamlining of Verra’s process for reviewing documents submitted with a request to list a project on the Verra project pipeline under one of the following statuses:

• CCBS Program: validation public comment period requested, validation and verification public comment period requested, or verification public comment period requested
• JNR Framework: under development or under validation
• Plastic Program: pipeline listing requested (under validation), pipeline listing requested (under validation and verification), verification public comment requested, or crediting period renewal public comment period requested
• SD VISta Program: validation public comment period requested, validation and verification comment period requested, or verification public comment period requested
• VCS Program: under development or under validation

The updates clarify that Verra reviews these documents prior to validation/verification body review only in cases where it is deemed necessary because a project is high risk, in line with Verra’s recently announced risk-based approach to project reviews.

The Clarifications to Verra Program Rules and Requirements document is available on the respective Rules and Requirements section of each program page. The clarifications will be incorporated into the next issued version of the program documents.

Please contact programupdates@verra.org with any questions.

Verra has released the Procedure to Change Methodology through a Project Description Deviation (PDF). The document provides guidance and requirements for updating projects in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program to a different methodology or methodology version for current and future monitoring periods, as enabled by section 3.21 of the VCS Standard, v4.7 (PDF).

Project proponents must update to the latest methodology version for current and future monitoring periods at crediting period renewal or baseline reassessment, or as prescribed in the grace period when a methodology is inactivated. However, project proponents may also choose to update to a different methodology or methodology version for current and future monitoring periods before the end of the methodology grace period using this procedure.

As such, this procedure is applicable to project proponents transitioning their projects to VCS Methodology VM0048 Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, v1.0, once activity data is available for their project area.

For a project proponent to change the methodology for a VCS project, they must do the following:

• Use the new methodology to prepare an updated project description that demonstrates how the project meets all requirements and applicability conditions of the new methodology
• Prepare additional project documentation, including a monitoring report and greenhouse gas emission calculation spreadsheets
• Have the documents assessed by a validation/verification body (VVB) at the next verification
• Submit all the documents for Verra review and approval

This new procedure is distinct from the recently released VCS Methodology Change and Requantification Procedure, which provides a pathway for project proponents to update the methodology or methodology version used for previously approved verification periods and reconcile the number of issued Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) based on the requantification under the new methodology.

Verra will host a webinar on Thursday, October 24, 2024, at 10:00 am ET to provide a detailed overview of the VCS Methodology Change and Requantification Procedure and the Procedure to Change Project Methodology through a Project Description Deviation.

For any further questions, please contact programupdates@verra.org.

Verra has permanently inactivated the use of UNFCCC CDM methodology AM0065: Replacement of SF6 with alternate cover gas in the magnesium industry in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program as of September 17, 2024.

AM0065 applies to project activities that replace the use of cover gas sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in full or in part by another cover gas. A cover gas is used to prevent rapid oxidation of a weld zone due to atmospheric oxygen.

In its most recent methodology decisions, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) announced that carbon credits generated by projects using AM0065 would not meet the requirements of the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) assessment framework. Verra’s inactivation follows a routine review of the methodology, per section 5 of the Methodology Development and Review Process and also considers ICVCM’s decision. Following its review, Verra determined that the methodology’s additionality requirement was out of date. There is also a strong indication that the activities covered by the methodology will become a common practice in the near future.

Projects that are using AM0065 and that are registered in the VCS Program can continue issuing Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) through the end of the current crediting period but cannot renew the crediting period.

Projects that are using AM0065 and are currently under validation or pipeline listed in the Verra Registry must complete validation by March 17, 2025.

There are currently two projects in the Verra Registry that use AM0065.

Verra has rejected 37 projects that use the UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) methodology, AMS-III.AU.: Methane emission reduction by adjusted water management practice in rice cultivation. All rejected projects are based in China.

Verra had paused and then inactivated AMS-III.AU in early 2023 per section 5 of the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Methodology Development and Review Process (PDF). Following the methodology’s inactivation, Verra conducted quality control reviews of all registered projects using AMS-III.AU in accordance with section 6 of the VCS Registration and Issuance Process (PDF).

During the quality control review, Verra identified several issues with the projects related to insufficient demonstration of additionality, projects being designated as small scale, project areas being overstated, and the lack of sufficient evidence to confirm the baseline and project scenario implementation.  These concerns were also supported by an analysis of remote sensing data.

Verra is seeking compensation for excess issuance of Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) from the respective project proponents.

Verra issued non-conformity reports to the four VVBs that had validated the rejected projects: China Classification Society Certification Company, China Quality Certification Center, Shenzhen CTI International Certification Co., Ltd, and TÜV Nord Cert GmbH.

The organizations have 15 days to demonstrate a strong corrective action plan to prevent issues from recurring. Failing to do so, these VVBs face temporary suspension by Verra to conduct audits of other projects under VCS sectoral scope 14: Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU).

The following is a list of projects registered in the VCS Program that are using AMS-III.AU. Those that have issued VCUs are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Verra is currently developing a new rice methodology in the VCS Program that proponents of rice cultivation projects can use. The new methodology will enable project proponents to credibly achieve emission reductions and generate high-quality VCUs. The methodology will incorporate clear and concise guidance as well as efficient processes for the determination of additionality, quantification of emission reductions, and transparent data and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) procedures. The public consultation for the new methodology closed in July 2024, and Verra expects to release the final methodology later this year.