Products
Environmental
Europe VERs
Voluntary Emissions Reduction (VER)
A VER is a Verified Emissions Reduction. VERs are emission credits which are generated outside of the Kyoto protocol and cannot be used within the Kyoto Protocol, yet still contribute to a reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions. As such, they provide a method for project developers to generate income and a method for companies to reduce their carbon footprint.
As would be expected from a market outside of the strictly regulated Kyoto Protocol, the main concern for VER buyers has been validity. However, the development of credible intermediaries, with the creation of registries for VERs and the widespread acceptance of a minimum quality standard, namely, the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) designed by the International Emissions Trading Association, Climate Group and WWF have given VERs considerable credibility.
VERs are generated through a number of sources but typically occur due to:
- Pre-registration CDM projects that are working but are as yet to be registered due to delays in CDM processes, backlog, new methodology approvals and such like (clearly, in this case, post registration, the carbon credits would be CERs, and not VERs)
- Small-scale projects without the economic scale to complete the relatively expensive process of registration
- Projects that for whatever reason may have been unsuccessful in gaining registration as CDM projects
VERs have less rigorous standards than CERs in most cases with the project cycle and principles remaining similar. VCS criteria and principles are detailed below:
- Real – All the GHG emission reductions and removals and the project that generate them must be proven to have genuinely taken place
- Measurable – All GHG emission reduction and removals must be quantifiable using recognised measurement tools (including adjustments for uncertainty and leakage) against a credible emissions baseline
- Permanent – Where GHG emissions reductions or removals are generated by projects that carry a risk of reversibility, adequate safeguards must be in place to ensure that the risk of reversal is minimised and that, should any reversal occur, a mechanism is in place that guarantees the reductions or removals will be replaced and compensated for
- Additional – Project based GHG emission reductions and removals must be additional to what would have happened under a business as usual scenario if the project had not been carried out
- Independently Verified – All GHG emission reductions and removals must be verified to a reasonable level of assurance by an accredited validator or verifier with the expertise necessary in both the country and sector in which the project is taking place
- Unique – Each VCU must be unique and should only be associated with a single GHG emission reduction or removal activity. GHG programmes must contain checks to ensure that double counting or reductions and removals - in mandatory or other voluntary markets - does not take place
- Transparent – Must publicly disclose sufficient and appropriate GHG-related information to allow intended users to make decisions with reasonable confidence
- Conservative – Must use conservative assumptions, values and procedures to ensure that the GHG emission reductions or removals are not over estimated
