Verra Launches Scope 3 Standard Program, a Comprehensive Framework for Verifying Value Chain Climate Action Projects

WASHINGTON – Sept. 15, 2026 | Verra has today launched its Scope 3 Standard (S3S) Program, a framework for quantifying, verifying, and certifying the outcomes of climate action projects inside corporate value chains.

Project proponents will be able to use this standardized, independent certification framework to generate Scope 3 Units (S3Us). The program will help drive investment and scale to in-value-chain climate action.

Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions from a company’s value chain—for example, from its suppliers and customers—rather than its own operations, and they typically make up over 75% of a company’s total carbon footprint.

More than 40% of the world’s largest public companies have net zero targets that include Scope 3 emissions. But until now, there has been no independent, comprehensive system to certify the emission reductions and removals resulting from a company’s investment in value chain climate action.

Each S3U will represent one tonne of CO₂ equivalent reduced or removed within a corporate value chain. The S3S Program will work alongside the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, which means projects can potentially issue either S3Us or standard carbon credits, widening their financing options and the buyer pool.

Verra CEO Mandy Rambharos said: “For years, the environmental community has debated whether climate action projects belong in Scope 3 accounting and related claims at all. Companies, meanwhile, have had the ambition to act in this space regardless. What they haven’t had is a credible, independent way to account for and report on the impacts of their actions, which is key to driving finance to this type of climate action.”

“The VCS Program taught us what it takes to build a standards program the market can rely on. The Scope 3 Standard Program applies that same discipline to in-value-chain emission reductions and removals, using harmonized accounting and reporting guidance, as well as a tracking system,” she said.

Today’s launch of version 1 of the program allows proponents to list projects on the Verra Registry using an initial set of adapted VCS methodologies covering improved agricultural land management and low-carbon concrete production. Additional methodologies will follow as the program expands to new sectors, including forestry, industrial fuels, super-pollutants, and refrigeration.

Future updates to version 1 will open registration, validation, and verification for pipeline-listed projects, enabling the first issuance of S3Us. Version 2 of the program will provide guidance and requirements for demonstrating a company’s value chain association with an impacted product directly affected by the project and for issuing the corresponding reportable units derived from S3Us. Companies can use these units for their greenhouse gas reporting and climate action claims.

The S3S Program was shaped by more than 100 expert stakeholders who took part in Verra’s Scope 3 Initiative, first launched in 2022. The program underwent a robust pilot testing from 2022 through 2026, with a diverse set of stakeholders and collaborators including Bayer, Patagonia, 3Degrees, Klim GmbH, American Forest Foundation, Anew Climate, Elanco Animal Health, Rabobank, 12Tree, 3M, Diageo, Lestari Capital (and Rimba Collective), NatureCo, and Sodexo. Other organizations, such as SustainCERT, and corporate partners offered further input. Development continues to be informed by insights from the Scope 3 Standard Program Development Group and many other key collaborators.

The S3S Program is designed to be compatible with and complementary to existing corporate climate frameworks, including the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) Corporate Net-Zero Standard, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP), ISO Net Zero Aligned Organizations Standard (ISO 14060), the Advanced and Indirect Mitigation (AIM) Platform, and the Taskforce for Corporate Action Transparency (TCAT).