Verra

📢 Verra’s new cookstoves methodology has been approved by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) under its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) Assessment Framework, making Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program methodology VM0050 Energy Efficiency and Fuel-Switch Measures in Cookstoves, v1.0, one of the first methodologies for clean cooking projects to meet the ICVCM’s high-integrity standards.   🫕This approval marks a major milestone for clean cooking projects and the voluntary carbon market (VCM). It also reinforces the methodology’s scientific rigor, transparency, and credibility, and underscores that cookstove carbon credits deliver real, measurable, and verifiable emission reductions while improving the lives of millions.   ✅ VM0050 sets a new benchmark for quality and impact in carbon markets, signaling to project developers and buyers that credits generated under this methodology meet the highest standards for environmental integrity.   “Today’s approval by the ICVCM is a defining milestone for clean cooking projects and the voluntary carbon market,” said Verra CEO Mandy Rambharos. “There are 2.3 billion people in the world who still rely on polluting cooking methods; cookstove projects and the carbon credits they generate can deliver both clean cooking technologies and the necessary finance to provide them to local communities.”   “The ICVCM’s decision is a powerful endorsement of cookstove credits as a high-integrity climate solution that provides measurable environmental benefits for global impact,” she said.   Read the full announcement: https://bit.ly/4bsQCy8   #Verra #StandardsMatter #CarbonMarkets #CarbonCredits #ClimateAction #CleanCookstoves

📢 Last chance to provide feedback on Verra's tool for quantifying organic carbon stocks using digital soil mapping in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program! The public consultation is open through April 4. 🌱 The proposed tool provides guidance for the calibration and validation of data-driven modeling methods to estimate SOC stocks in a spatially explicit manner, including model uncertainty estimations and deductions. It allows for using a wide range of remote sensing technologies, geospatial data, and statistical methods that have been demonstrated through peer review to predict organic carbon content in the soil. ➡️ Learn more: https://bit.ly/4i2SFuW #Verra #StandardsMatter #CarbonCredits #ClimateAction #CarbonMarkets #RegenerativeAgriculture

📢 Reminder! Share your feedback on a minor revision to a Clean Development Mechanism methodology for lightweight two- and three-wheeled personal transportation (AMS-III.BM.), which would be published in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. 📅 The public consultation runs through April 18, 2025. 🚲 The methodology applies to project activities that help shift urban passenger transport to mechanical and electric bicycles and tricycles by developing supporting infrastructure (e.g., bicycle lanes, bicycle sharing programs, bicycle parking areas). 🛴 The proposed revision expands the methodology’s scope to include other two- or three-wheeled electric vehicles (e.g., electric motorcycles and scooters). The revision also allows for the inclusion of business-oriented delivery and transportation services. ➡️ Participate in the consultation: https://bit.ly/3Y2tgdf #Verra #CarbonMarkets #CarbonCredits #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #StandardsMatter

🌲 Join Verra's Mandy Rambharos, CEO, and Sinclair Vincent, senior director, program development, at this week's Corporate Investments into Forestry & Biodiversity Summit. 📅 Organized by CE Events & Media in NYC, the summit takes place April 1 and 2. CIFB supports companies in developing strategies for investments into forestry and biodiversity to achieve a net zero future. 🕤 On Tuesday, April 1, at 2:00 pm ET, Mandy will speak at the "Investing in Carbon Markets" session. Panelists will focus on integrity challenges around carbon credits, selecting the right credits for a corporate climate strategy, and the technology underpinning additionality claims. 🕤 On Wednesday, April 2, at 9:30 am ET, Sinclair will join the panel "The Use Case for Biodiversity Credits." Speakers will discuss how to unlock the value of these assets, and how buyers can use these credits as an integral part of their nature strategy. Mandy and Sinclair look forward to connecting with other stakeholders at the event! #CIFBNYC25 #NatureBasedSolutions #CarbonMarkets #ClimateAction #Biodiversity #Verra #NatureConservation

➡️ Verra has released an updated version of a module for biogeochemical modeling guidance (VMD0053) in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. VMD0053 provides procedures for the calibration, validation, and verification of empirical or process-based models used to estimate soil organic carbon stock (SOC) changes and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes in the soil. Initially, it was conceived as a module to be used alongside Verra's Improved Agricultural Land Management methodology. 🌾 With these minor updates, Verra has expanded the module’s applicability to include all agricultural land management (ALM) methodologies in the VCS Program, including Verra’s new rice methodology. Read more: bit.ly/4iJGOCN #Verra #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #StandardsMatter #CarbonMarkets

📢 #ICYMI: Verra CEO Mandy Rambharos recently joined a webinar titled "Women Accelerating Action in the Carbon Markets," moderated by Sheri (Houston) Hickok, CEO of Climate Impact Partners. Panelists discussed the challenges and opportunities women working in climate finance are facing. Speakers also touched on what it will take to scale up women’s leadership in the field. Missed the live session? No problem! You can catch up on the event in the following ways: 💻 Watch the webinar recording: bit.ly/4cfEukM 👓 Read the Climate Impact Partners recap blog: bit.ly/3EaGD4i #Verra #StandardsMatter #CarbonMarkets #CarbonCredits #ClimateAction #WomenInLeadership

💻 Digitalization update! Four additional methodologies approved for use in Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program are now available in digital form on the Verra Project Hub: AMS-III.D.: Methane recovery in animal manure management systems, v21.0 AMS-I.C.: Thermal energy production with or without electricity, v22.0 ACM0003: Partial substitution of fossil fuels in cement or quicklime manufacture, v9.0 VM0050 Energy Efficiency and Fuel-Switch Measures in Cookstoves, v1.0 ⚙️ The methodologies can be accessed through the Digital Project Submission Tool. As part of Verra’s multiyear digitalization initiative, this release is a key component of enhancing the project registration process. ➡️ Verra encourages proponents to use the digital versions of methodologies as they become available. The digitalized methodologies facilitate the accurate generation of project documents and monitoring reports by using templates to collect all the project details required for a given methodology. 🌟 With the addition of these methodologies, Verra now has 18 digitalized methodologies across its programs. Additional digitalized methodologies are currently undergoing User Acceptance Testing. 🔗 For more information, including a demo of the Digital Project Submission Tool, please see the full announcement: https://bit.ly/3QSuowg #Verra #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #StandardsMatter #CarbonMarkets #DigitalFirst

🌍 The 2025 European Climate Summit (ECS) is almost here! Organized by IETA, the event takes place April 1-3 in Lisbon and explores how carbon markets can continue to evolve with integrity, impact, and innovation. Verra staff in attendance includes Andrew Howard (chief strategy and policy officer), Naomi Swickard (senior advisor, forest carbon), Michelle Davidov (fundraising and administration manager), Christina Irven (manager, global event strategy), and Amy E. Thom, PhD (manager, sustainable development innovation). We look forward to connecting! Stop by our exhibit booth in the ECS 2025 Carbon Market Lounge (ground floor of the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes) or join us at one of our speaking engagements. 📅 Tuesday, April 1, 5:30–6:30 pm GMT 💡 Verra Side Event: Carbon Credit Use Cases – Searching for Legitimacy 🎙 Moderator: Naomi Swickard (Verra); panelists: Andrew Howard (Verra), Martina Simpkins (Anew Climate), Pascal Siegwart (TotalEnergies), and Enric Arderiu Serra (Mercuria) 🔎 Explore how carbon credits are being used for climate action and hear about the latest updates in this space. 📅 Wednesday, April 2, 2:15–3:15 pm GMT 💡 Deep Dive – CORSIA: Navigating Through Turbulence to Smoother Skies 🎙 Featuring Andrew Howard (Verra) 🔎 Learn how activity in the CORSIA market is ramping up. Panelists will examine recent policy developments and Andrew will provide an update on Verra's support of this market, including the recent CORSIA label guidance. 📅 Thursday, April 3, 8:45–10:15 GMT 💡 Alternate Solutions: Maintaining the Integrity of Carbon Credits While Facilitating the Building of Capacity 🎙 Featuring Andrew Howard (Verra) 🔎 Explore pathways to reach common goals related to the generation and issuance of carbon credits. Read our full announcement: https://bit.ly/4iEwzj3 #ECS2025 #CarbonMarkets #CORSIA #ClimateAction #Verra #CarbonCredits

📢 Public Comment Period Now Open! 🌍 Every project seeking to register in a Verra standards program undergoes a 30-day public comment period. The public comment periods for the projects listed here opened during the weeks of March 10 and 17. The previous two weeks' listings include projects seeking registration and/or verification in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Programs. 📍The projects are located in various geographic regions, such as Oman, Benin, Pakistan, Chile, Brazil, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They include the following: ➡️ A project designed to protect native Congolese forests legally designated for selective logging ➡️ A project aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions related to the transportation of mining companies workers by replacing their fossil fuel-based fleets of buses by electric ones ➡️ A project designed to ensure coastal areas protection and create alternative livelihoods through afforestation/reforestation/revegetation of 226,000 ha of degraded tidal wetlands 🌱 Impact Highlight: Collectively, these projects could reduce and/or remove at least 1,628,609 tCO2e annually from the atmosphere, helping to accelerate our transition to a more sustainable future. 🔗 Learn More: View the full list of projects that opened for public comment during the weeks of March 10 and 17 in our announcement: https://bit.ly/4c60QoN 🗣️ Get Involved: Share your thoughts and contribute to shaping these projects. Your feedback matters! #ClimateAction #CarbonMarkets #Verra #SustainableDevelopment #CarbonCredits #StandardsMatter Photo courtesy of Keneco. Mindanao Tree Planting Program for Our Climate and Communities (MinTrees) (Verra Project 2412).

🔎 Verra has announced suspension measures against the four validation/verification bodies (VVBs) involved in reviewing the 37 rice cultivation projects in China that the standards setter rejected late last year. The four VVBs involved in auditing the rice projects—China Classification Society Certification Company (CCSC), China Quality Certification Center (CQC), CTI Certification CO. LTD. (CTI), and TÜV Nord Cert GmbH—are suspended from conducting audits of the following: ➡️ Projects that use an Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) methodology in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program; ➡️ Projects that are registered, or seeking to register, under the AFOLU or the Oceans and Marine Resources scope in the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta) Program; and ➡️ Projects that are registered, or seeking to register, in the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program. TÜV Nord Cert GmbH’s suspension measures only apply to projects in China, whereas all other VVBs’ suspension measures apply to project audits globally. 💡 Verra rejected the 37 rice cultivation projects after serious issues had been identified. The involved VVBs were issued nonconformance reports and were required to report to Verra on the root causes of these issues and propose actions to prevent their recurrence. However, Verra found these reports to be inadequate and has now issued suspension measures. Verra’s chief program management officer, Justin Wheler, said: "This decision was not made lightly, but Verra’s commitment to integrity means upholding the highest standards of quality and trust, and maintaining market confidence must come first. While we recognize the impact of this suspension on affected projects, ensuring rigorous and credible validations and verifications is critical.” #Verra #StandardsMatter #CarbonCredits #CarbonMarkets #ClimateAction 🔗Read the full press release: https://bit.ly/4iGwHia 🔗Read the related program notice: https://bit.ly/4iTjcvg