ClimatePositive purchases offsets in the “The Gold Standard” or “Verified Carbon Standard (Verra)” registries which are endorsed by the United Nations. In its assessment and recommendation of registry programmes, the UN’s Technical Advisory Body highlighted the following criteria:
Permanence:Carbon offset credits must represent emissions reductions, avoidance, or carbon sequestration that are permanent.
Additionality: Carbon offset programmes must generate units that represent emissions reductions, avoidance, or removals that are on top of any reduction or removals required by law, regulation or legally binding mandate.
Avoidance of double counting towards mitigation obligations:Measures must be in place to avoid double issuance, double use, and double claiming.
Monitoring, reporting and verification: Emissions reduction is calculated in a conservative and transparent manner, verified by an accredited independent entity
Public disclosure of sustainable development: A programme should list the criteria used regarding alignment with the SDGs.
Our view is the transparency offered by Gold Standard and Verra offers our community the most rigorous verification possible.