Green-e Climate Endorsed Programs

Endorsed Programs are independent third-party greenhouse gas (GHG) Project Certification Programs that ensure specific GHG reduction projects result in real, verified, enforceable, permanent, and additional reductions. The specific principles and criteria that Endorsed Programs should meet are outlined in the Green-e Climate Standard. Sellers who seek Green-e Climate certification for the sales of GHG emission reduction products (offsets) must source from projects that are certified by one of the Endorsed Programs.

Currently, there are five Endorsed Programs under Green-e Climate. The Endorsed Programs and any specific restrictions are the following:

1. The Gold Standard
The Gold Standard Foundation offers a quality label to CDM/JI and voluntary offset projects. Renewable energy and energy efficiency projects with sustainable development benefits are eligible. The Gold Standard is endorsed by over 50 non-governmental organizations worldwide. The Gold Standard is a non-profit foundation under Swiss Law and funded by public and private donors.

All Gold Standard VERs are eligible with the following exceptions:
• Projects registered under methodologies that do not meet the additionality criteria in Section 5.1.c(g) of the Green-e Climate Standard are not eligible. Substantiation from Seller is required that additionality requirements under the Green-e Climate Standard have been met.
• Outside of the United States and Canada, hydropower projects must be under 10 MW in capacity in order to be eligible. For a “grouped” project, consisting of more than one instance of the project activity at multiple locations within a defined geographic boundary, which is certified as a group or program of activities, the total capacity of the grouped project may exceed 10 MW capacity; however, no single instance of the project within the group shall exceed the 10 MW capacity limit.
• In the United States or Canada, only GHG emissions reductions from new hydropower generation capacity on a non-impoundment or new generation capacity on an existing impoundment that meets one or more of the following conditions is eligible:

a) The hydropower facility is certified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI);
b) For Canadian hydropower facilities only, the facility is EcoLogoM certified; or
c) The hydropower facility consists of a turbine in a pipeline or a turbine in an irrigation canal.

For facilities falling under a. or b. above, only output generated during the period of LIHI certification or EcoLogo certification is eligible for Green-e Climate Certified sale. In the United States and Canada, the Green-e Governance Board will consider on a case-by-case basis GHG emissions reductions resulting from new incremental capacity on an existing dam, where the “new” output is equal to or less than 5 MW. The Program will not certify products sourcing GHG emissions reductions from new impoundments of water.

With the exceptions listed above, the following CDM Gold Standard project types are eligible:
• Renewable Energy
• Energy Efficiency

2. The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)
The VCS provides a robust global standard for voluntary GHG emissions reduction and removal projects and their validation and verification. It ensures that carbon offsets that businesses and consumers buy can be trusted and have real environmental benefits. The VCS program is managed by the VCS Association which is an independent, non-profit organization registered under Swiss law. The founding partners of the VCS are The Climate Group, the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

All Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) are eligible as long as they are certified according to VCS 2007 or VCS version 3.0, with the following exceptions:
• Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU) projects are eligible as long as the Seller provides proof that the native species requirements under the Green-e Climate Standard are met.
• Projects validated under VCS 2007 that have qualified as additional using the VCS "Test 2 – Performance Test" are not eligible, unless the performance standard used explicitly lists the eligible technologies.
• Projects certified according to previous versions of the VCS that are grandfathered in under VCS 2007 are not eligible under Green-e Climate.
• The period of time for which GHG reductions/removals are verified (verification period) shall not exceed three years for non-sequestration projects, and shall not exceed seven years for sequestration projects.
• Outside of the United States and Canada, hydropower projects must be under 10 MW in capacity in order to be eligible. For a “grouped” project, consisting of more than one instance of the project activity at multiple locations within a defined geographic boundary, which is certified as a group or program of activities, the total capacity of the grouped project may exceed 10 MW capacity; however, no single instance of the project within the group shall exceed the 10 MW capacity limit.
• In the United States or Canada, only GHG emissions reductions from new hydropower generation capacity on a non-impoundment or new generation capacity on an existing impoundment that meets one or more of the following conditions is eligible:

a) The hydropower facility is certified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI);
b) For Canadian hydropower facilities only, the facility is EcoLogoM certified; or
c) The hydropower facility consists of a turbine in a pipeline or a turbine in an irrigation canal.

For facilities falling under a. or b. above, only output generated during the period of LIHI certification or EcoLogo certification is eligible for Green-e Climate Certified sale. In the United States and Canada, the Green-e Governance Board will consider on a case-by-case basis GHG emissions reductions resulting from new incremental capacity on an existing dam, where the “new” output is equal to or less than 5 MW. The Program will not certify products sourcing GHG emissions reductions from new impoundments of water.

With the exceptions listed above, the following VCS project types are eligible:
• Renewable Energy
• Energy Efficiency
• Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Uses (AFOLU)
• Methane Capture
• SF6 Destruction

3. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
The Clean Development Mechanism is a mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol through which developed countries may finance GHG emission reduction or removal projects in developing countries, and receive credits for doing so which they may apply towards meeting mandatory limits on their own emissions. CDM credits not used in the compliance market can be sold in voluntary markets. The CDM is supervised by the CDM Executive Board and is under the guidance of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Clean Development Mechanism Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) are eligible with the following exceptions:
• Due to permanence issues, no CDM Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) projects are eligible.
• No hydropower projects with a capacity over 10 MW are eligible. For a “grouped” project, consisting of more than one instance of the project activity at multiple locations within a defined geographic boundary, which is certified as a group or program of activities, the total capacity of the grouped project may exceed 10 MW capacity; however, no single instance of the project within the group shall exceed the 10 MW capacity limit.

With the exceptions listed above, the following CDM project types are eligible:
• Renewable Energy
• Energy Efficiency
• Methane Capture
• SF6 Destruction

4. The Climate Action Reserve
The Climate Action Reserve is a national offsets program working to ensure integrity, transparency and financial value in the U.S. carbon market. It does this by establishing regulatory-quality standards for the development, quantification and verification of greenhouse gas emissions reduction projects in North America; issuing carbon offset credits known as Climate Reserve Tonnes (CRTs) generated from such projects; and tracking the transaction of credits over time in a transparent, publicly accessible system.

The following Climate Action Reserve project types are eligible:
• Livestock - U.S.
• Landfill - U.S.
• Urban Forest
• Livestock - Mexico
• Landfill - Mexico
• Coal Mine Methane
• Organic Waste Digestion
• Nitric Acid Production
• Ozone Depleting Substances
• Forestry (Forest Protocol version 3.0 or later)