Verra has commenced the piloting of its Scope 3 Standard (S3S) Program, a major milestone in the development of this new program, which will certify value chain interventions and issues units for use in companies’ emissions accounting.
In the initial piloting phase, pilots will be adapting three methodologies that are active in Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program for use in the S3S Program:
- VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management, v2.0
- VM0043 Methodology for CO2 Utilization in Concrete Production, v1.0
- ACM0009: Fuel switching from coal or petroleum fuel to natural gas — Version 5.0 (external)
Pending a successful piloting process and methodology approval, these three methodologies will become the first S3S methodologies when it launches in 2025.
The four pilot projects adapting the VCS methodologies will also test the S3S Program rules, requirements, processes, and documents. The pilot projects cover the apparel, agriculture (arable and livestock), construction, and communications services sectors and are located in Europe, Asia, and North America. The projects are implemented by 3Degrees Inc. (external) (with partner CarbiCrete and others), Bayer Crop Science (external) (with partners ATOA Carbon, and Perennial Climate Inc.), Klim GmbH (external) (and partners), and Patagonia Inc. (external) (with technical advisor Anew Climate LLC).
The pilot projects will operate over the next 12 months and findings from their operations will be used to refine the S3S Program design.