Qualified VVBs for Reliable Carbon Credits

GCC Program requires that competent, skilled and experienced GCC VVBs are deployed to conduct verification as per requirements of the Validation and Verification Standard (VVS) in an independent and impartial manner to provide a high-quality verification output.

GCC Program has developed two comprehensive documents called the Procedure for Approval of VVBs and Validation and Verification Standard (VVS) to provide requirements for:

1 - Determination of applicable track and eligibility to submit application approval of GCC VVBs

An entity/ organization can apply to be approved as a GCC VVB through one of the following tracks:

  • UNFCCC Track (CDM/ Article 6.4)

    Applicant organizations, who are Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) and accredited for CDM/Article 6.4 for Validation or Verification under specific GHG sectoral scopes, are eligible to submit applications under this track.

  • ISO Track

    Applicant organizations, who are Verification Bodies accredited by National or International Accreditation Bodies as per ISO 17011 for conformity assessment for ISO 14065, ISO 14064-2,3 are eligible to submit applications under this track. National or International Accreditation Bodies are encouraged to be members of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and its respective regional forums and have signed MLAs to undergo mutual assessments.

  • MOU Track

    Applicant organizations, who do not have accreditation under any of the above tracks, may seek accreditation from national accreditation bodies having Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GCC. Such National or International Accreditation Bodies shall possess accreditation as per ISO 17011 for conformity assessment for ISO 14065, ISO 14064-2,3 and are encouraged to be members of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and its respective regional forums and have signed MLAs to undergo mutual assessments.  The list of accreditation bodies having Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GCC are provided:

    https://globalcarboncouncil.com/for-stakeholders/verifiers/#accreditation-bodies-mou-track

2 - Application for approval as a GCC VVB
  • Prepare and Submit application:
    • Please refer to the Procedure for Approval of VVBs and the GCC VVB Application Form to smoothly follow the requirements. All VVBs sign an agreement with the GCC Program that legally binds them towards their obligation for project and GHG emission reduction/removal verification.
    • The templates for GCC VVB Application and GCC VVB Agreement are available on GCC website: https://www.globalcarboncouncil.com/resource-centre/.
    • The potential applicant VVB organization shall prepare the application as per the requirements of Procedure for Approval of GCC VVBs and demonstrate that:
      • The GCC Program scope, which includes sub-scopes to cover GHG, No-net-harm to Environment (E+) and Society (S+), and contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG+), is clearly implemented;
      • Applicant VVB has sufficient resources and organisational capacity to deploy competent verification team and the technical reviewers;
      • Verification team and the technical reviewers have overall competence, based on knowledge, skills and experience, including on project verification and emission reduction verification audits, financial analysis, GHG sectoral scope and technical area competency, report preparation, previous GHG project experience, E+, S+, SDG+ competence, etc; and
      • The system to qualify the auditors is based on a robust management system approach in a similar way as applied under CDM.
    • Once the potential applicant VVB organization selects any of the three tracks applicable to them, the next step is to prepare an application and to submit the completed application (filled both as PDF and Word version), together with signed and stamped GCC VVB Agreement and a confirmation of transfer of the applicable fee via email to: operations@globalcarboncouncil.com.
  • Assessment and Evaluation of Applications:
    • After receipt of application and required documents, GCC Operations Team will assess them to evaluate and approve/reject the applicant VVB. The evaluation includes desktop review of the GCC VVB Application Form and GCC VVB Agreement and physical site visit/remote inspection.
3 - Conducting validations and verifications

GCC Program requires that project and emission reduction/removal claims are clearly, transparently, and independently validated and verified by suitably qualified, independent VVB. All VVBs must follow Verification Standard which contains the requirements applicable to GCC Project Verification and Emission Reduction Verification. The verification report prepared by the verification team shall undergo a technical review conducted independently of the audit/verification team as per ISO 14064-2, ISO 14064-3 and GCC requirements contained in the Procedure for Approval of GCC VVBs.

4 - Monitoring and evaluation of performance of the VVBs

Monitoring and Evaluation of Performance of the GCC VVBs is conducted regularly based on assessment of the verification reports submitted by them. In addition, the performance is evaluated via site visits, spot checks, performance assessment/witnessing, etc. and this feedback is taken into account in consideration of the VVBs request for re-approval.

5 - Capacity building of GCC VVBs

GCC organizes workshops to extend/enhance capacity of GCC-Approved VVBs and entities considering application for approval as GCC VVBs.

For Stakeholders