Marco Albani

#VM0047 methodology has become the new buzz among Agroforestry Carbon Projects. While there are no registered projects and no issuances either I wonder what the hype is really about. Verra has 1432 projects under the AFOLU category, with 43 projects under VM0047 (and this number continues to grow) and 247 projects under AR-ACM0003, making up 20% of the total NBS portfolio. As AR-ACM0003 is waning in its glory the push from investors to adopt the VM0047 for agroforestry projects is a bit too much. Not just adopting new projects with VM0047 but also #switching #older #registered/ or nearly registered AR-ACM0003 projects to VM0047. For Verra this may just be more work to review the same project again!  And looking at the current turnaround time, it will be no less than a nightmare!   Just wondering if it's really worth the time, effort and resources to re-register the same projects with the VM0047 methodology to suit the requirements of Investors. I strongly believe that there could be a way to integrate AR-ACM0003 with VM0047 instead of re-validating the same projects all over again. What do you all think? FCF India Fair. Inclusive. Transparent.

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An interesting and useful new paper by Schreefel et al. explores pathways to monitor the success of agricultural sustainability. The paper highlights the need for indicators to be context specific, and discusses the roles of target, practice, result and outcome indicators to monitor and quantify the sustainability state at the farm, value-chain or national scale. These results resonate well with our approach in RegenIQ Powered by Agmatix – our recently launched regenerative ag monitoring framework. Using an innovative expert-based approach, our framework is cropping system specific, and both practice and outcome indicators are adapted to crop, soil and climate conditions. We currently have the framework calibrated to Coffee, Cacao, Potato, Sugarcane, Grapes, Soybean and Silage, and more cropping systems will be added in the near future. More information at https://regeniq.earth/ Agmatix https://lnkd.in/efepys8h

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In more good news for nature finance, the Green Climate Fund recently announced a new policy that “… permanently integrates REDD+ results-based payments into GCF’s regular project activity cycle. This will significantly enhance the predictability of REDD+ financing, providing a powerful incentive for developing countries to embark on REDD+ and reduce their emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.” More of this please! Making forests worth more alive than logged is a central part of addressing climate change and protecting water, habitat and biodiversity. Pricing carbon and measuring and rewarding governments and private land owners for protecting and restoring the “lungs of the planet” is good policy all of the way around. #huntthegoodstuff

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Verra’s new Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) methodology (VM0048) and its module for Avoided Unplanned Deforestation (VMD0055) represent a significant evolution in the approach to carbon accounting and forest conservation. This development exemplifies the critical intersection of technological advancement, policy alignment, and ecological stewardship. By leveraging sophisticated data collection methods and collaborating with governments, Verra enhances the accuracy and integrity of emission reduction calculations. This move addresses historical conflicts of interest and ensures consistency with national climate goals. The implications of this are far-reaching, potentially setting new standards for transparency and accountability in climate action, and fostering deeper integration of local communities and biodiversity conservation efforts into global climate strategies. This methodology’s evolution reflects a broader trend towards harmonising environmental and economic objectives, an essential step for achieving long-term sustainability. #ClimateAction #REDDMethodology #ForestConservation #CarbonAccounting #Sustainability #ClimateChangeMitigation #ParisAgreement #DeforestationPrevention #EnvironmentalStewardship #SustainableDevelopment #BiodiversityConservation #CarbonCredits #GlobalClimateGoals #EcologicalIntegrity #TechnologicalAdvancements #LocalCommunities #PolicyAlignment #TransparentAccounting #SustainableFuture #EnvironmentalGovernance

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Exciting progress in the carbon markets! The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has recently approved four more prominent carbon standards—Gold Standard, Verra, Global Carbon Council, and Climate Action Reserve—for inclusion in the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (#CORSIA). This groundbreaking move enables airlines and operators to offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits under the first industry-wide system of its kind. The decision has been highly anticipated by voluntary carbon market (VCM) stakeholders, as it is poised to drive significant demand, potentially surpassing the available carbon credits supply. This marks a pivotal moment for sustainability in the #aviation sector! 🌱✈️ #CarbonMarkets #Sustainability #Aviation

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This is a brilliant step by Verra 👏. We at Carbon Growth Partners highly recommend that parties accept the invitation to participate in the consultation process. 💡📝 Providing an optional pathway to transition from 'legacy' carbon accounting methodologies to their CCP descendants will: ✅️ Give project proponents and host communities choice in their approach. ✅️ Help to raise the real and perceived quality bar for carbon projects. ✅️ Maintain investment confidence by mitigating stranded asset risk. It is also important to note that projects that choose not to transition are not necessarily 'bad' or 'worse' than those that do. But they are different. That's especially true for forest conservation under the REDD+ program's VM0048, which is just a completely different way of accounting for forest carbon conservation. Well done to Justin Wheler and Andrew Howard for your process design and Judith Simon, Robin Rix, Toby Janson-Smith, Naomi Swickard and others on the Verra team for your leadership. Link to the process - including the relevant feedback forms - in the Verra link. Have your say! 🗣👇

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Ever wanted to skip the labyrinth of methodological reports and marketing jargon of corporate biodiversity measurement tool developers? There is a shortcut to learn about costs, strengths and weaknesses without spending weeks or even months researching dozens of approaches! Just like the Finance for Biodiversity’s overview of measurement approaches (link in comments), the EU Business & Biodiversity Platform (EU B@B) provides a wealth of insights into almost all existing tools. Its "update reports" are gold mines which include 16 detailed and standardised case studies! 🔦 These really stand out because they have been independently assessed by a panel of experts for clarity and authenticity. Say goodbye to vague marketing pitches and hello to practical, real-life insights! 🔎 Let’s share some highlights from one case study: Schneider Electric’s journey towards quantifying #biodiversity risks and opportunities across their value chain. 1️⃣ The use of a tool like the #GlobalBiodiversityScore allowed to identify and quantify the areas where most of the impacts occur and to prepare the profound transformations required to avoid and reduce those impacts. In Schneider Electric’s case, those were GHG emissions, wood from pallets and cardboard (packaging), and mined minerals (embedded into its products). 2️⃣ The assessment required about 40-80 person-days from the consultants (CDC Biodiversité & PRé Sustainability) and about as much from Schneider Electric. 3 days of training were required for the evaluator and the user interface was relatively simple. The use of such assessment tools thus require more investment than simpler screening tools (such as ENCORE), but it unlocks more advanced business applications. 3️⃣ While the assessment allowed to quantify Scope 1, 2 and Upstream & (for one pressure) Downstream Scope 3 impacts, it covered only ecosystem condition and not species extinction or genes, it also did not cover marine biodiversity. 💡 How did the assessment inform Schneider Electric’s decisions? It committed to a Scope 1 no net loss target by 2030 and it fed into its strategic thinking around purchases, packaging and management of biodiversity in direct operations (more in comments). ⚠ Time flies! This case study dates back to 2020: 4 years is an eternity in this space: several tool & data limitations have since been at least partly overcome. But the main lessons and conclusions on costs, strengths & weaknesses remain broadly valid. ❔ Do you know of other examples of companies who have successfully assessed their whole impacts on #ecosystems at the corporate level and disclosing the results?

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CORSIA Update: Verra, Gold Standard Await Full Approval, Prices Soar! Leading carbon credit registries, including Verra, Gold Standard, Social Carbon and Climate Action Reserve have received conditional approval from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Phase 1 (2024-2026). The American Carbon Registry and the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions are the only registries with full approval for Phase 1. Market Reaction: The news sent shockwaves through the carbon market. Following ICAO's announcement, CORSIA futures surged significantly, exceeding 100% in just two days to reach $20 per ton. This price increase likely reflects the perceived tightening of credit availability as airlines have fewer options for approved offsets. Impact on Airlines: This delay affects airlines' ability to utilize carbon offsets issued by Verra, Gold Standard, and other major registries for CORSIA compliance in Phase 1. This could potentially impact early participation and project development for airlines seeking to offset their emissions. Reason for Conditional Approval: ICAO identified areas requiring improvement in these registries' processes, particularly regarding credit accounting and avoiding double-counting of emission reductions under UN guidelines. Verra, Gold Standard, and other registries have until April 15th, 2024 to address ICAO's concerns and resubmit their documentation. A final decision on their full eligibility for CORSIA Phase 1 is expected by September 2024. For further details, read the following link. https://lnkd.in/epeRjrcd #CORSIA #CarbonOffsets #Aviation #Sustainability

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Posts like this give me some hope. There are things we can do that are #naturepositive. What I wonder though is about the money to put things into place and also the transparency and accountability in the event of funding to implement with fidelity. #climate #blueeconomy #greeneconomy

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TNFD has just released new sector guidance! Since 2022, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has been hard at work refining and reviewing thousands of comments on the draft sector guidance for priority sectors with high impacts and dependencies on nature. This is the product of an extensive review process among TNFD members, science partners, and market participants. Why is this significant? The sector guidance is crafted to help companies in integrating nature-related risks and opportunities into their decision-making processes through the LEAP (Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare) approach. The Guidance includes detailed disclosure metrics, recommended actions, and strategies for reporting nature-related issues, ensuring companies can align with global biodiversity goals. Final sector guidance published for:   🦐 Aquaculture  🔬 Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals  ⚗ Chemicals  ⚡ Electric utilities and power generators  🌽 Food and agriculture  🌳 Forestry and paper  ⛏ Metals and mining  🛢 Oil and gas Additional updated guidance for: 💰 Financial institutions ⛓ Value chains And five DRAFT sector guidance open for consultation until September 27th: 🐟 Fishing 🏗 Engineering, construction and real estate 🧱 Construction materials 🧃 Beverages 👕 Apparel accessories and footwear The Taskforce is a market-led, science-based, and government-backed initiative providing organizations with the tools to act on evolving nature-related issues. You can find the link for the newly released guidance in the comments below. #TNFD #Sustainability #ClimateAction #Biodiversity #LEAP #CorporateResponsibility

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A one-dimensional view of China’s economic and social transformations leads to simplistic conclusions. China’s economic structure is going through a multi-dimensional change with a series of interrelated rotations of the capital structure. Three key dimensions stand out: 1. Sectoral composition change. This has been obvious for a few years already with a policy-induced deflation of the previously growing real estate bubble and the shift of capital to high tech and manufacturing. Green energy remains a strong growth sector as well. 2. Geographic. Growth is also being driven into the third, fourth and fifth tier cities. Western focus on the first and second tier cities misses the growth that’s taking place outside of the well-known cities. A growing number of graduates are moving to these lower cost cities. 3. Demographic. Associated with the spatial dimensions is a shift towards income growth amongst those in the lower income segments - the genuine average income earning households. This is underpinning ongoing household income growth, and consumption growth. The GINI coefficient continues to trend downwards as a result of these changes. Meanwhile, those in the top 1-10% of the income distribution are paring back their consumption. This becomes most noticeable for exporters of high end products. Lastly, talk of China reducing imports is patently untrue. The data shows ongoing import growth. #china

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Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN) and Verra are seeking Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)  registered projects interested in obtaining concurrent certification with the W+ Standard as well as those currently accredited in the W+ Standard and seeking to apply a (external) label to Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) generated by their project. 🌟 Key Highlights: 🌟 - VCS projects (including joint VCS and Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) Program projects) meeting both Verra and W+ Standard requirements are eligible for W+ labeled VCUs. - The W+ label signifies that a VCS project meets the W+ Standard, the only certification framework that quantifies, verifies, and monetizes women’s empowerment within projects and supply chains. 🗓️ Webinar Alert! 🗓️ Join us on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at 2:00pm ET for a webinar co-hosted by Verra and WOCAN. We’ll cover the updated label guidance and the process for acquiring W+ labels for VCUs. Register for the Webinar here https://lnkd.in/gdesDUpx 🌱 Optional Piloting Process 🌱 WOCAN is launching a piloting process for extra guidance on W+-labeling documentation. Details on how to join are on the W+ Standard website www.wplus.org For questions about W+-labeled VCUs, contact the Verra team at [email protected] or the W+ Standard team at [email protected]. #Sustainability #WPlusStandard #CarbonCredits #WomensEmpowerment #ClimateAction #VCS #Verra #WOCAN

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📣 New publication 📣 "Conditional fungibility: sequencing permanent removals into emissions trading systems". A new perspective article out today in Environmental Research Letters co-authored with Felix Schenuit. With the growing momentum for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) as a key element of mitigation strategies to achieve net-zero emission targets, its potential integration into cap-and-trade carbon markets is emerging as a key policy issue. A fundamental question in both conceptual and practical policy discussions relates to which CDR methods should be integrated into emissions trading systems (ETS). Based on a mapping and bundling of different measures to address varying permanence and a framework for conditional fungibility, we argue that only methods that are considered "permanent" should qualify for integration. The integration of CDR into compliance markets requires a strategic policy sequencing strategy consisting of three steps: - First, the establishment of credible certification through the implementation of robust MRV systems. - Second, the introduction of liability measures to address potential releases of removed carbon. - Third, defining rules for the integration of CDR certificates into the market so that they can be traded with ETS allowances. Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment CO₂RE - The Greenhouse Gas Removal Hub Read the perspective article 👉: https://lnkd.in/eT6cfRS8 Read the longer form policy paper 👉: https://lnkd.in/eSSmqg79

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