Verra's October 2023 Newsletter

Dear Colleague,

This past month was a whirlwind of activity for us here at Verra. We had a strong presence at Climate Week NYC and the North America Climate Summit (NACS) and appreciated being able to connect with many other stakeholders there.

We were honored to present our “New Era for Verra” initiative at an NACS side event in New York. Under this initiative, we commit to scaling our impact, engaging more actively with our stakeholders, and improving our operational processes to ensure we effectively advance climate action and sustainable development.

To accomplish these goals, we will focus on three thematic areas: operational excellence, enhanced program integrity and impact, and accountability. We look forward to providing you with regular updates on the progress of our commitments under each of these.

As Climate Week NYC came to an end, we learned that Verra again earned two of the prestigious Environmental Finance awards in 2023: Best GHG Crediting Programme for the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program and Best Registry Provider for the Verra Registry. We are humbled to receive these awards, which represent a vote of confidence in Verra as a standards setter that can deliver high-integrity carbon credits into the voluntary carbon market.

In other news, Verra continues to work with the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market as it ramps up its assessment process. We are currently considering the implications of the recently announced category-level requirements for the Core Carbon Principles and expect to announce our approach soon.

Finally, we want to let you know that Verra has adopted internal policies regarding anti-money laundering, anti-corruption, and human rights. These policies are publicly available on Verra’s website.

Please read on for a number of updates, many of which follow up on some of the commitments under our “New Era for Verra” initiative. We are in this together, and we look forward to working with you in this ecosystem of action to achieve our shared mission.

Stakeholder Updates

TOP NEWS

• A New Era for Verra
• Verra Wins Two Environmental Finance Awards
• Statement to Voluntary Carbon Market Stakeholders on the Latest Guardian Attack

VCS PROGRAM

• Verra Announces Innovative, High-Integrity Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation Methodology
• Verra Introduces Digital AFOLU Non-Permanence Risk Tool
• First Project Using Verra’s New Agricultural Land Management Methodology Now VCS-Registered
• New “Retirement Reason” Option in Verra Registry
• Verra Introduces Digital Form for Notice of Validation/Verification Services
• Verra at Asia Climate Summit
• Verra Launches New Cohort of VCS Program Advisory Group
• Verra Issues Corrections and Clarifications to the VCS Program Rules and Requirements
• Verra Response to Haya et al. Papers

SD VISTA PROGRAM

• Press Release: Verra Launches Public Consultation of Crucial SD VISta Nature Framework
• Webinar: Overview of Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard Program
• Sustainable Development Download Issue #6

PLASTIC PROGRAM

• Verra at Third Session of Global Plastic Treaty Negotiations (INC-3)

Regular Updates

GENERAL

• Job Openings
• Projects Open for Public Comment

VERRA STAFF AT EVENTS

Verra staff participate regularly in events. For a comprehensive list, please check our events page.

If you’d like to invite a Verra team member to speak at your event, please contact [email protected].

We would also like to bring your attention to an upcoming event:

• Don’t miss Environmental Markets Week Americas (external), October 25–27 in Houston, Texas. Co-located with Energy Trading Week Americas (external), the conference brings together key players from the global environmental market ecosystem. Regulators, emitters, trading firms, project developers, and more will discuss the development of voluntary and compliance markets in North America.