VM0047 Control Plots: The Future of Carbon Baselines

New — VM0047

As shown in the graph below, the growth of sample plots of carbon being stored in your project area (Z) is being weighed against a proxy control plot (W). The amount of credits that the project proponent can attain is the difference between Z and W, which is recalibrated every year.

Line chart comparing canopy height growth of a project plot (Z) against a recalibrated control plot (W) across five years under the new methodology

Old — AR-ACM0003, AR-AMS0007

As shown below, the growth of sample plots of carbon being stored in your project area (Z) is measured against a static baseline (W). The amount of credits that the project proponent can attain is the difference between Z and W.

Line chart comparing project plot canopy height growth (Z) against a flat static baseline (W) across five years under the old methodology

So, what does this mean?

Using a more robust method leads to a much welcome increase in accuracy in carbon emission accounting. This means the next wave of afforestation projects entering the market will be of a higher quality. This will likely lead to 2 things:

Higher quality projects = Price per tonne of CO2 reduced will increase
Moving forward, credit issuance per project will likely decrease when compared to projects registered under the previous methodologies. In the grand scheme of the voluntary carbon markets, this is a welcome market adjustment and not a bad thing,

Reach out if you require carbon due diligence services or looking for a Technical Partner on your projects.