myclimate VER projects: Standards for voluntary offsetting

The acronym VER stands for "Verified Emission Reduction" and describes the kinds of certificates that may only be used for voluntary greenhouse gas offsetting. One VER is always equivalent to one tonne of CO2 that has been avoided.

In contrast to the CDM projects, to which a single and internationally recognised regulation applies, such unified standards do not exist for myclimate VER projects. Many different standards with a range of different requirements exist. For its VER projects, myclimate has set the following guidelines:

• Emission reductions are calculated and controlled based on the CDM guidelines and according to the same methods and documentation templates.
• All VER projects among the international projects are registered and validated as Gold Standard projects.
• All VER projects among the Swiss projects are developed according to general myclimate guidelines and monitored by a recognised, independent agency.

More about the life cycle of a myclimate VER project.