Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Offsets

Beyond the Standard: Find the Highest Quality VCS Projects

The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) is a vital global standard for carbon offsetting. But in a market facing a "flight to quality" and fears of greenwashing, how do you know you're choosing the best VCS projects?

 

That's why we built CRISP (Carbon Offset Ratings & Insights Platform). As our "Intelligence Layer", CRISP independently analyzes projects—including those from VCS—to provide a transparent quality rating. We help you move beyond the standard to find projects with proven, credible impact.

How to Buy High-Quality VCS Offsets with Confidence

Our integrated ecosystem is the essential platform for credible climate action. We connect world-class standards with transparent, immediate action.

  1. Find the Best Projects: We use CRISP, our independent ratings platform, to score project quality, risk, and co-benefits.
  2. Buy with Transparency: Our COMP (Carbon Offset Marketplace) is our "Action Engine", allowing you to browse, filter, and purchase these top-rated VCS projects.
  3. Get 'Proof of Impact': To counter greenwashing fears, all purchases on COMP feature instant 'Proof of Impact' with automated retirement links , a key part of our commitment to radical transparency.

Need an Offset Portfolio or Net Zero Strategy?

Carbon offsetting is just one part of a credible climate strategy. For larger organisations, our expert team provides high-value verification and builds bespoke, high-quality offset portfolios.

We can help you build a defensible, long-term strategy using our proprietary Net Zero Standard and provide Verification & Assurance for your data, ensuring your claims are credible.

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What is the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)?

The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) is one of the leading international standards for voluntary carbon offsetting. It provides a credible but simple set of criteria that will prove the integrity of all project-based voluntary emission reductions.

The VCS ensures that all projects are independently verified to meet its criteria – defined as Voluntary Carbon Units (VCUs) – which represent real, quantifiable, additional, and permanent project-based emission reductions.

Critically, VCS ensures a project will:

  • Deliver contracted emissions reductions
  • Prevent "leakage" (unintended emissions increases elsewhere)
  • Prevent double counting

 

The VCS has created registries which are used to register, transfer and retire VCU’s from the market and therefore prevent double counting.

There are 10 minimum threshold criteria which the emission reduction project must satisfy in order for its reductions to meet the Verified Carbon Standard and be verified and registered.

 

1) The offset project must be one of the endorsed project categories

2) The emission reduction must involve any of the 6 GHG’s currently included within the Kyoto Protocol

3) The project start date or emission reduction must be on or after January 1st 2000

4) The crediting period should be a single crediting period of 10 years commencing from the project’s start date

5) The project boundary shall encompass all anthropogenic emissions by sources of GHG’s. Incorporating all primary effects (intended changes in emissions caused by the project) and significant secondary effects (unintended emissions caused by the project). The project will only use one project boundary to avoid double counting.

6) Secondary effects are to be incorporated into the calculation methodology

7) The calculation methodology is to use CDM Executive board approved calculations for determining the emission reduction where possible. Combinations of approved methodologies can be used. The proponent may use a performance standard or best practice approach when a CDM methodology is not available either in its entirety or as a combination.

8) The project activity must be additional i.e. the emission reduction must be below what would have occurred in the absence of the project.

9) The project must not have any negative impact on the sustainable development in the local community.

10) The project must use the most recent emission reduction monitoring protocol that has been approved by the CDM executive board or the JI supervisory committee.

 

 

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