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August 2023

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One of the leading voluntary carbon market standards, Verra, recently announced the launch of its “Project Tracker”, the first component of its digitalization initiative and the first functionality of the new Verra Project Hub. Verra also published an overview of the most recent updates to the Verra Registry. This bulletin briefly summarizes key information on the launch of the Project Tracker and important updates to the Verra Registry: Project Tracker and Project Hub Launch Verra’s Project Tracker provides stakeholders with increased information and visualization of project details including the status of each project in a bar diagram. This is intended to enable stakeholders to view project progress from initial listing to registration, validation, and verification. Verra indicated that the Project Tracker is linked to its customer relationship management platform, enabling automatic data synchronization. Verra noted that it intends to expand the Project Hub’s features to (i) facilitate the online submission of new projects for review, (ii) a digital assessment of a project’s non-permanence risk, and (iii) direct interaction with project auditors. Verra Registry Updates Announced updates to the Verra Registry include the following: New project status added. A new project status, “Pipeline Listing (Under Development) Approved”, has been added to the workflow for projects seeking registration in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. ERR Calculation Spreadsheet. A new document type specific to emission reductions and removals (ERR), titled “ERR Calculation Spreadsheet,” has been added to the drop-down list of available project document types. Locking of Account Setup Fields.The fields in the “My Account Setup” module for all Verra Registry accounts are now locked for editing after Verra has approved the account. Locking of Project Setup Fields.Once a submitted project is no longer under the status of “New,” the project’s setup page will be locked for editing. This applies to all Verra projects in any…

Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change (the “Minister”), in collaboration with the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, has announced the release of proposed Clean Electricity Regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) (see our earlier bulletin on prior consultations here). The Proposed Regulations would establish significant and ambitious emission performance standards (“EPS”) to reduce greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions from fossil fuel-generated electricity generation facilities in all provinces and territories across Canada starting in 2035. Environment and Climate Change Canada (“ECCC”) estimates that the Proposed Regulations would result in a net reduction of 342 million metric tonnes (Mt) of CO2e emissions between 2024 and 2050 and a net benefit to society of $28.9B. The Proposed Regulations also impose significant registration, record keeping, and reporting obligations on covered electricity generation facilities. The Proposed Regulations represent a significant foray by the federal government into electricity policy, which has traditionally been an area of provincial jurisdiction. In their current form, the Proposed Regulations are expected to attract opposition from some provincial governments, and potential constitutional legal challenges. ECCC is seeking feedback on the Proposed Regulations. Interested stakeholders are encouraged to review the Proposed Regulations and submit detailed comments by no later than November 2, 2023.  We anticipate that policy developments are being targeted for announcement before or at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties meetings (COP28 Paris Agreement negotiations) that start on November 30, 2023, in Dubai, UAE. This bulletin briefly summarizes key details of the Proposed Regulation: Application. The Proposed Regulations would apply to any “unit” (defined as an assembly comprised of any equipment that is physically connected and that operates together to generate electricity, and (a) must include at least a boiler or combustion engine and (b) may include duct burners and other combustion devices, heat recovery systems, steam turbines, generators, emission control devices and carbon capture and storage (“CCS”) systems) that meets the three following criteria:…