Background and purpose about double counting in the Voluntary Carbon Market
The Riverse Standard aims to ensure the integrity of carbon credits by preventing double counting. Double counting can undermine the credibility of carbon credits and the environmental benefits they represent. The Double Counting Policy sets forth detailed requirements to avoid double use, double issuance, and double claiming of carbon credits.
Riverse References document about double counting
- Standard Rules section 4.5 [here]
- Double counting policy [here]
- Each methodology double counting requirement
- COI policy [here]
Key definitions and concepts about double counting
Double counting in the context of carbon credits refers to a situation where the same greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction or removal is counted more than once. This can occur in several ways:
- Double use: Occurs when a single carbon credit is used and/or retired more than once.
- Double issuance: Happens when multiple carbon credits are issued for the same GHG reduction or removal activity.
- Double claiming: Occurs when the same GHG reduction or removal is claimed by two different entities towards their mitigation targets or inventories.
Measures to prevent double issuing
Point of creation of the removal / avoidance
- Methodologies specify eligible activities to issuing credit within a given climate mitigation pathway
- Methodologies require specific GHG accounting boundaries to consider all steps in the creation of a removal/avoidance benefit
- Riverse rely on scientific consensus on what activity should be rewarded the climate positive impact. In complex value chain, it can be the case that mulitple actor in a value chain benefit from the carbon credit but only 1 project will be registered.
Project registration and issuance protocols
- Projects are required to delineate their GHG accounting boundaries clearly, ensuring that only one carbon credit is issued for GHG reductions or removals within these boundaries
- Projects must commit not to seek credit issuance for the same GHG avoidance or removal under another crediting program by signing the Riverse MRV & Registry Terms & Conditions
- If a project is already registered under another crediting program, it must deactivate its registration with that program before being eligible for Riverse certification
- Project developers are required to inform all entities within the supply chain about their claims and reporting of emission reductions, preventing other entities from making overlapping claims
- Any transfer of GHG removal/avoidance units within the supply chain must be documented and signed by an authorized project representative
Verification and Validation processes
- Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs) must adhere to rigorous accreditation standards, including a demonstration of sector-specific knowledge and the ability to perform independent and thorough audits.
- VVBs conduct detailed validation and verification audits to ensure that the data and methodologies used by project developers are accurate and consistent with the Riverse Standard Rules
Regular spot checks and audits
- Riverse conducts regular spot checks to verify that projects are not listed in other registries and to ensure there are no overlaps in project scopes and mitigation activities
- These checks help identify any potential double counting issues early and enforce compliance with the Riverse Standard Rules.
Conflict of Interest management
- All parties involved in the validation, verification, and certification processes must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. This ensures that decisions regarding carbon credit issuance are made impartially and based solely on the merits of the project
Measures to prevent double claiming
Unique identification and tracking
- Each Riverse Carbon Credit (RCC) is assigned a unique identification number tracked from issuance to retirement. This ensures that each credit is used only once and provides transparency in the carbon credit lifecycle
- An immutable certificate is generated upon retirement, detailing the entity that retired the credit, vintage year, mechanism (avoidance or removal), date of retirement, and credit IDs.
- Once retired, a unit cannot be transacted anymore.
Disclosing data through the registry
- Retirement certificates are link to a unique url where end clients may verify the information on the retirement transations
- Any retailer who would commit to sell twice the same unit would be reported and banned from the registry without notice
- Any third-party can track a unit from issuance to retirement, with retirement reasons
How to to prevent double using in the VCM
A Unique Identification and Tracing per credit
- Each Riverse Carbon Credit (RCC) is assigned a unique identification number.
- Credits are tracked from issuance to retirement, ensuring transparency and traceability.
- An immutable certificate is generated upon retirement, publicly available on the Riverse Registry.
- A carbon credit transfer is only valid if it is done through Riverse registry.
Being part of a global network
Several initiatives are gathering the data from all the registry worldwide. Riverse is notably participating to the Climate Action Data Trust project, led by the World Bank. Sylvera, a carbon credit rating agency, is also working on gathering all this dat
Riverse's comprehensive approach to preventing double counting includes stringent project registration protocols, independent validation and verification, regular spot checks, and strict conflict of interest management. These measures collectively ensure the integrity and credibility of Riverse Carbon Credits, fostering trust and transparency in the carbon market.
Why carbon credit issuing do not discount GHG inventory
This section provides a clear explanation tailored to highlight the separation between carbon credits and the actual emissions of the issuing organization.
Introduction on this topic
Carbon credits are a vital tool for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging investment in sustainable projects. However, it's crucial to understand that issuing carbon credits does not alter the intrinsic environmental impact of the organization or the specific activities generating those credits. This document explores why this is the case, with examples from renewable energy projects and carbon capture in construction materials.
A carbon credit is a certificate that represents the GHG emissions reduction and removal enhancements, it’s represented by one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Organizations can earn these credits through projects that either reduce emissions, such as renewable energy installations, or remove carbon from the atmosphere, like incorporating biobased compound into construction materials.
Why issuing carbon credits does not change organization’s (or product’s) impact?
Separation of GHG emissions and carbon credits
- Project vs. Organization: The activities generating carbon credits are often distinct from the broader operations of the organization. Therefore the GHG accounting scope will be different.
- Carbon credit projects follow ISO 14064-2, quantifying GHG emissions reduction and removal enhancements
- Carbon footprints of organization follow ISO 14064-1, quantifying GHG inventories for organization
- Accounting mechanism: Carbon credits are primarily an accounting mechanism that allows organizations to offset their emissions by investing in external projects. This does not equate to an actual reduction in the emissions directly produced by the organization.
Some examples
- Renewable energy project:
- Scenario: A company operates a wind farm and issues carbon credits based on the amount of CO2e avoided by generating electricity from wind instead of coal.
- Impact: The credits reflect the avoided emissions, but the emissions associated with manufacturing, transporting, and maintaining the wind turbines are not reduced by issuing these credits. The company’s overall carbon footprint, including these lifecycle emissions, remains the same.
- Carbon capture in construction materials:
- Scenario: A construction company develops a technology to capture CO2 and incorporate it into concrete, issuing credits for the amount of CO2 sequestered.
- Impact: While the captured CO2 is accounted for in the credits, the environmental impact of the construction material—including mining raw materials, energy consumption in production, and transportation emissions—remains unchanged. The credits do not mitigate these inherent emissions.
How ISO norms support the explanation?
Riverse Standard adheres to ISO standards, particularly the ISO 14060 series, to generate precise estimates of GHG reduction and removal enhancements via carbon credits, ensuring full compliance with existing sector-specific requirements.
Relationship among the ISO 14060 family of GHG standards
- ISO 14064-1:2018: "Greenhouse gases — Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals."
- What is it? This standard provides the principles and requirements for designing, developing, managing, and reporting GHG inventories for organizations. It helps organizations quantify their GHG emissions and removals.
- Relevance? Supports the principle that the overall emissions of an organization are determined by a comprehensive GHG inventory, not just by the emissions avoided or sequestered by specific projects. This is NOT used in Riverse Standard certifications
- ISO 14064-2:2019: "Greenhouse gases — Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring, and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements."
- What is it? This standard focuses on GHG projects and how to quantify, monitor, and report emission reductions or removals. It can be used to support the issuance of carbon credits from specific projects.
- Relevance? Clarifies that carbon credits are issued based on the specific emission reductions of a project, which does not necessarily reduce the broader emissions profile of the organization as a whole.
- ISO 14064-3:2019: "Greenhouse gases — Part 3: Specification with guidance for the verification and validation of greenhouse gas statements." & ISO 14065:2020: "General principles and requirements for bodies validating and verifying environmental information."
- What is it? This standard provides guidelines for verifying and validating GHG assertions. It ensures that the GHG emission reductions claimed by projects issuing carbon credits are credible and accurate.
- Relevance? Ensures that the claims made about emission reductions and carbon credits are accurate and credible, reinforcing that these credits represent specific reductions or removals rather than changes to the overall organizational impact.
- ISO 14067:2018: "Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products — Requirements and guidelines for quantification."
- What is it? This standard outlines the principles, requirements, and guidelines for quantifying the carbon footprint of products. It is essential for understanding the full lifecycle emissions of a product and how they are calculated.
- Relevance? Emphasizes the importance of quantifying the full lifecycle emissions of a product, which remains unchanged even if the organization issues carbon credits.
To conclude on double counting on the VCM
Issuing carbon credits is an important step towards mitigating global emissions by promoting projects that reduce or capture CO2. However, this does not alter the intrinsic environmental impact of the organization issuing the credits. The carbon emissions associated with renewable energy projects or carbon capture in construction materials remain unchanged by the issuance of credits. For a genuine reduction in overall impact, organizations must focus on reducing emissions across their entire operations and supply chains, beyond just offsetting through carbon credits
