Verra will inactivate VCS methodology VM0017 Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Land Management, v1.0 as of 31 March 2023 , following a regularly planned review under the VCS Methodology Development and Review Process, v4.2. The review was initiated in Q3 2022 and determined that major updates would be required to align the methodology with best practice and scientific consensus in soil organic carbon (SOC) and agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and to address overlap between this and other agricultural land management (ALM) methodologies, specifically VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management, v2.0, expected for release in the coming weeks.

No further revisions are planned for methodology VM0017, v1.0.

The following measures apply:

  • Projects validated under this methodology may continue to use it until the next baseline reassessment or crediting period renewal and must then select a different methodology, per Section 3.21 of the VCS Standard, v4.4.
  • Pipeline-listed projects have a grace period of 12 months (until 31 March 2024) to complete validation (for registration and crediting period renewal) or verification (for baseline reassessment).
  • New projects seeking to use the methodology must request pipeline listing on the Verra Registry by 31 March 2023 and complete validation by 31 March 2024.

Projects using VM0017, v1.0 may switch to another eligible methodology before these deadlines, using the project description deviation process outlined in Section 3.20 of the VCS Standard, v4.4.

Projects currently using or considering the use of VM0017, v1.0 may consider applying VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management which incentivizes the adoption of similar improved ALM practices and offers enhanced approaches, for example, to baselines, monitoring, and measurement based on latest scientific best practice. In particular, the process-based models used in VM0042 increase the rigor of SOC and GHG flux quantification through detailed model calibration, validation, and uncertainty guidance covered in the accompanying module VMD0053. The methodology and module are currently being revised and updated versions will be available soon.

Please contact Verra at methodologies@verra.org should you have further questions.

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