Washington, DC – 13 March 2023 | Verra, the world’s leading standard setter for climate action and sustainable development, announced today that Farhan Ahmed has joined the nonprofit organization as its new Chief Program Management Officer. In this role, Farhan will lead Verra’s Program Management Department and be responsible for maintaining and enhancing quality and integrity across Verra’s programs. He will work closely with Verra’s new President, Judith Simon, to further scale up these programs and ensure operational excellence within the Program Management Department.
Farhan joins Verra from Fair Trade USA, which sets standards and certifies programs that improve livelihoods, protect the environment, and build resilient and transparent supply chains. Prior to Fair Trade USA, Farhan held leadership roles at prominent standard-setting and certification organizations across Asia, the Middle East, and North America, including Bureau Veritas Group and RINA.
Farhan brings this expertise to Verra, which operates standards in environmental and social markets, including the world’s leading carbon crediting program. As those markets have grown in recent years, Verra has significantly expanded the team that manages its standards programs. The organization has also enhanced the certification process through enhanced use of technology, including early-stage implementation of digital measurement, reporting, and verification (DMRV).
“Verra is thrilled to welcome Farhan to its Program Management Department during this transformative time. With more than 20 years of experience in sustainability, social accountability, and climate, he will play a key role in our mission to accelerate action on climate change and sustainable development through standards that drive investment to achieve measurable, high-integrity impact for people and the planet,” said Judith Simon, President, Verra.
“I am excited to work shoulder to shoulder with an incredibly talented and capable team to accelerate Verra’s growth and scale its impacts in the fight against climate change and to promote sustainable development,” said Farhan Ahmed, Chief Program Management Officer, Verra.
Farhan joins Verra at an important period in the organization’s evolution. Just this year, Verra has taken several steps to strengthen its programs, including opening a broad public consultation on the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, announcing plans to release a new consolidated REDD methodology in Q3 2023, and developing a new nature crediting framework.
Farhan will report to Verra President Judith Simon and oversee the management of the VCS Program, the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program, the Sustainable Development Verified Impact (SD VISta) Program, and the Plastic Waste Reduction Program.
For questions and inquiries, please contact:
Anne Thiel, Senior Manager, Communications, athiel@verra.org
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Verra is a nonprofit organization that operates the world’s leading carbon crediting program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, as well as other standards in environmental and social markets. 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, tools, and programs that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.