Verra Publishes Minor Revision of ARR Methodology (VM0047)

Verra has released updates to its Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation (ARR) methodology in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. VCS methodology VM0047 Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation, v1.1 constitutes a minor revision to version 1.0 of the methodology, incorporating feedback received during a public consultation that ran from May 23 to June 24, 2024.

VM0047 quantifies carbon removals from activities that establish, increase, or restore vegetative cover in non-forest areas or enhance forest carbon stocks in areas with existing forest cover. It provides two approaches for quantifying these carbon removals: an area-based approach and a census-based approach.

VM0047, v1.1 features the following updates:

• It allows project activities like Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) to occur on lands with existing forests so long as lands have not been managed for wood products. This change is intended to support the restoration of degraded forests.
• It allows the use of remote sensing approaches to estimate pre-existing woody biomass at the project start date under specific circumstances.
• It includes updated requirements for GPS and physical markers when identifying trees under the census-based approach, aiding dispersed and small-scale planting projects.
• It clarifies the distinction between the census-based approach and the area-based approach. The census-based approach is now limited to projects that plant 50 or fewer trees per hectare, regardless of instance size, and where land use will not change due to project implementation. The area-based approach can now be used on instances under one hectare if planting density exceeds 50 trees per hectare, giving developers greater access to a more accurate and scalable accounting method.

Verra recognizes that changes to requirements for using the census- and area-based approaches would impact the design of projects already listed or planning to list on the Verra Registry. Given the significant time required to plan and validate ARR projects, as well as the extended timeline that was necessary to complete the revision of VM0047, Verra is applying extended grace periods to acknowledge and accommodate the investments already made by project developers using the previous version of VM0047. (These projects must use an updated version of VM0047, v1.0 that includes corrections and clarifications.)

Guidelines for projects are as follows:

• VM0047, v1.1 may be used for all projects. 
• For all projects applying VM0047, v1.0, the version that includes corrections and clarifications is effective immediately.  
• The following grace periods apply to all projects using VM0047, v1.0:
  • Projects must request pipeline listing as under validation on the Verra Registry by December 31, 2025.
  • Projects must request registration on the Verra Registry by December 31, 2026.

In December 2024, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) approved VM0047, v1.0 as meeting the requirements of the Core Carbon Principles (CCP) Assessment Framework. Verra will submit VM0047, v1.1 to the ICVCM for consideration of the included updates.

On Wednesday, June 4, at 12:00 pm ET, Verra will hold a webinar to provide an overview of these updates to VM0047.