🔄ICR Process Requirements v5.0
Last updated
Last updated
Summary
ICR serves as a platform for climate projects of any sizes where environmental integrity is promoted with credibility, consistency and transparency of quantification, monitoring, reporting, validation, and verification.
Version no. | 5.0 |
Date of Version | 6. February 2024 |
The International Carbon Registry (ICR) is a GHG program and a comprehensive platform that adheres to the principles of the Paris Agreement and ISO 14064 series of standards, providing a robust framework for managing and validating climate projects globally. ICR offers a user-friendly registry system for project proponents to manage the entire lifecycle of climate projects, including tracking carbon credit inventories, facilitating market reach, and managing carbon credit portfolios by organizations.
This document summarizes the ICR processes, i.e., for pre-registration of projects, registering projects, issuing ICR carbon credits (ICCs), activating ICCs, and retiring/cancelling ICCs or other environmental instruments according to the ICR requirement document or other scheme requirements. This document intends to serve project proponents, project developers, general organizations, market participants, validation and verification bodies (VVBs), and other entities participating in the carbon market. Still, the focus is on project proponents registering their climate projects, issuing carbon credits, and interacting with ICR and VVBs. Note that the ICR requirement document and related documents provide rules and requirements for climate projects to be eligible for registration. This document, ICR process requirements, complements the ICR requirement document. Further, the ICR registry user guide assists project proponents in familiarizing themselves with the ICR registry platform.
Projects may have one or more project proponents and may be supported by project developers. For readability, this document uses project proponent in the singular tense, and project developer and proponents are not distinct.
The project proponent interacts with ICR when they have project concepts, pre-register projects in development, when undergoing validation, finalizing registering projects post validation, during issuance of ICCs, and activation of ICCs post verification of GHG emission mitigation outcomes. All supporting documentation shall be uploaded to the ICR registry by the project proponent, its authorized representative, and VVBs for any documentation relating to validation and verification. Validation and verification bodies (VVBs) are responsible for validating climate projects and verifying their GHG emission mitigation outcomes. ICR is responsible for undertaking document review, administering registration, issuance, activation of ICCs, and other aspects of administering the ICR program and registry further outlined in the ICR terms and conditions, ICR terms and conditions for projects, and the ICR registry user guide.
The ICR registry platform provides a central source for all information and documentation relating to projects under the ICR program. The ICR registry platform also provides assurance of the uniqueness of projects and their GHG emission mitigations, and issues serialized ICCs, and tracks transfers, retirements, and cancellations. ICR makes information and documentation of projects publicly available, but some information may not be publicly disclosed when information is subject to confidentiality and/or intellectual property rights. All documentation is, however, available for VVBs. ICR is responsible for reviewing project documentation and overseeing VVBs accreditation to ensure the integrity of projects and ICCs within the registry platform.
This ICR process requirements is updated periodically, and project proponents or other users shall ensure that they are using the most current version of this document or other documentation issued by the ICR.
The ICR registry platform leverages blockchain technology to issue carbon credits and transactions with carbon credits. The blockchain-backed nature of the ICR registry platform permits live inventory management and dissemination to marketplaces and end users of tools, enhancing transparency and favoring all parties involved. With blockchain technology, numerous difficulties confronted by VCMs are tackled right from the beginning as it provide for the traceability of credits in a manner that is auditable by the public.
Thus, the blockchain functions as a public record, maintaining a permanent and unalterable log where sellers, buyers, and other stakeholders can inspect and authenticate, thereby eliminating the possibility of duplication and fraudulent activities.
Tokenization is the process of converting rights to an asset into a digital token on a blockchain.
Tokenization with Blockchain:
Security and Trust: The blockchain ensures the tokens are secure and the ownership records are tamper-proof. Decentralization: The information is not stored in a centralized server, making it resistant to hacking or manipulation. Liquidity: Tokenization on blockchain allows fractional ownership, improving the liquidity of assets. Transparency: Every transaction is recorded on the public ledger, ensuring transparency. Interoperability: Tokens can be easily exchanged and used across different applications and platforms. Smart Contracts: Automate processes like dividend payments or voting rights.
Tokenization without Blockchain:
Centralized Control: Without blockchain, tokenization would need a centralized authority or database to keep track of ownership and transactions. Limited Trust and Security: The central system could be susceptible to manipulation, errors, or hacking. Lower Liquidity: Traditional systems may not support fractional ownership to the same extent as blockchain, making some assets less liquid. Opacity: Transactions may not be as transparent or easily verifiable by all parties involved. Limited Interoperability: Tokens might be confined to specific platforms or systems and may not be easily transferable.
Tokenization with blockchain provides more security, transparency, and liquidity compared to traditional tokenization/crediting methods.
All credits/tokens issued are generated on Polygon, found at https://polygon.technology/. Polygon is constructed on the Ethereum blockchain.
Further documentation on blockchain applications can be reviewed in ICR documentation using the following link. https://documentation.carbonregistry.com/documentation/on-chain/how-it-works.
Increasing transparency in voluntary carbon markets is pivotal for fostering trust and ensuring the effectiveness of climate projects and trust from their supporters. To achieve this, it's essential to implement standardized reporting, third-party validation and verification, public disclosure, clear framework, price transparency, oversight, and global alignment of transparency standards.
Clear reporting: Clear and standardized reporting requirements for climate projects.
Third-party validation/verification: Third-party verification of project claims, ensuring impartial assessment by a competent and accredited validation and verification body.
Public disclosure: Public access to relevant project information, including project documentation, monitoring data, and validation/verification results.
Standardization: Adherence to standardized rules and requirements governing climate projects, ensuring consistency and integrity.
Additionality transparency: Make details on the significance of support projects needs to scale, facilitating fair market pricing and accuracy in reflecting climate impact.
Oversight: Oversight to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
Global alignment: Harmonize transparency standards, i.e., CDM, at a global level, aligning with the Paris Agreement and frameworks under article 6.4 and ISO standards.
In addition, the presentation of information in an understandable format.
Enhancing traceability in VCMs by replacing outdated technology with modern solutions, particularly by leveraging blockchain as a native database and tokenizing carbon credits, is pivotal in scaling climate action. The phased transition to new technology ensures that carbon credits and climate projects are accurately tracked, preventing double counting and fostering trust and transparency.
Blockchain's role as a native database is crucial because it provides immutable and transparent ledgers, making data tamper-proof and accessible to all stakeholders. This enhanced traceability, facilitated by blockchain and tokenization, builds confidence, attracts more participants, increases investments, and accelerates climate action. It ensures that the market operates efficiently and with integrity, ultimately driving the transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon future.
ICR relies on native issuance of carbon credits (tokens) on the Polygon blockchain, which is a public blockchain.
ICR's registry platform is electronic and can be accessed through all internet-connected computers, tablets, or phones at www.app.carbonregistry.com. ICR's registry platform is developed by Mojoflower ehf. (Mojoflower) www.mojoflower.io. Further information about the ICR registry user guide may be found on the ICR documentation site.
The registry has user accounts and organizational accounts. Projects and credits belong to organizational accounts. Users make all actions and transactions on behalf of organizations.
To benefit from using the ICR program, an ICR registry account needs to be opened to pre-register, register, issue, trade, or retire ICCs. The ICR registry is administered and maintained by ICR.
Everyone can join the ICR registry. Individuals can establish an account from the ICR registry platform by providing the necessary information.
For users to be able to perform specific actions, they need to be verified, i.e., complete the Know your Customer (KYC) checks ("verified users"). The KYC check can be completed from the registry platform.
For organizations to participate in the ICR ecosystem as a project proponent, project developer, market participant, or general organization for issuing, transferring, trading, or retiring ICCs, they need to establish a registry account with ICR. Users can create a registry account for an organization, i.e., project proponent, developer, market participant, or general organization, from their user account[1].
The account opening is completed via the ICRs platform by a user who has the authority to represent the organization (Authorized representative). Organizations that want to have a public profile or intend to participate as a project proponent, project developer, VVBs, or market participant need to complete a Know Your Business (KYB), and the user creating the organizational account shall be a verified user. Note: Different fees are applicable for organizations based on the type of organizations and their verification.
Organizational types are:
Project proponent
Project developer
Validation and verification body (VVB) (see section 8)
Market participant
General organization
Organizations (project proponents or project developers) who want to register climate projects and issue ICR carbon credits (ICCs) shall have a verified account with ICR before any documentation review can proceed. For further information on the climate project requirements of ICR, refer to the ICR requirement document, ISO 14064-2, and other applicable documentation.
Any organization intending to submit a project to ICR needs to open an account by a user with the authority to represent the proponent through the ICR registry platform and register as a project proponent or a project developer.
Other organizations open registry accounts as applicable for their usage[2]. User permissions are limited to the purpose of use, and some are subject to special agreements with ICR, e.g., market participants and VVBs.
Market participants who want to act as custodians of carbon credits for users or trade or retire carbon credits on behalf of organizations shall establish a market participant account with ICR and sign a market participant agreement with ICR.
Validation and verification bodies need to establish an account with ICR. When an agreement has been signed with ICR, the VVB is explicitly identified in the registry. Only VVBs with an agreement with ICR are identified as VVB.
Organizations holding ICCs shall open a general organizational account with ICR if they intend to retire or hold carbon credits for use later and publicly disclose their aggregated holdings of ICCs and retirements.
All applicants for organizational account opening must sign terms and conditions for organizations and are subject to Know Your Business (KYB) check with ICR for them to be verified ("verified organization"). Only verified organizations may have a public organizational profile.
ICR will inform the organization of the review of the KYB and accompanying documentation. If further documentation is needed, ICR will inform the organization.
When all applicable fees have been paid, the account is verified, and the verified organization may perform its actions with the ICR registry platform.
Authorized representatives of organizations can invite current users in the ICR registry platform to join the organizational account and become members of their account by adding them to the organization. The invitation is delivered by email[3]. The users may be subject to KYC upon request. Users identified as members in organizational accounts have different roles, either administrative rights (admin) or content editing rights (editors). All user invitations to the organization's account and their roles are the organization's and authorized representatives' responsibility. At all times, at least one member needs to be an admin.
Detailed information on the ICR registry software, including step-by-step instructions for creating accounts, entering information, issuing, transferring, and retiring instruments, can be found in the ICR user guide.
Note that some organizations may publicly or privately disclose ICC inventory ownership. Only general organizational accounts allow for private accounts and private inventory.
Project registration involves the formal process of submitting a climate project design to ICR and to an approved validation and verification body for assessment, providing detailed information about the project's objectives, procedures, and expected GHG emissions mitigations. The registration ensures transparency, accountability, and credibility in projects, allowing them to issue ICCs that may be traded and used to compensate for GHG emissions or contribute towards reducing or removing atmospheric GHG emissions by organizations or others. The timing of project registration may be independent of its start date. In other words, projects may be submitted after they begin operation (subject to eligibility) or before they begin operation. However, the steps outlined in this section shall be followed.
The lifecycle of a project may generally be described according to the following diagram.
Projects have different status based on their project cycle. The status of a project may be:
Concept
Under development
Under validation
Validated
Closed
Delisted
The status represents the stage in the project cycle it is in.
A methodology refers to a systematic approach or set of procedures used to quantify and measure GHG emissions mitigations. These methodologies provide a standardized framework for estimating, monitoring, and verifying emission mitigations, allowing for consistent and comparable results across different projects applying the methodology. These methodologies typically establish criteria and prescribe procedures for projects to follow for data collection, quantification, monitoring, and reporting GHG emissions mitigations for projects ex-ante and ex-post and serve as good practice guidance.
Project proponents developing a climate project should review approved methodologies under ICR for their applicability and follow them where possible.
The ICR has pre-approved methodologies listed in ICR approved methodologies and available on the ICR documentation page.
When approved methodologies do not cover the project activities, the project proponent may develop a project by establishing methodological criteria and procedures according to the requirements of ISO 14064-2 and the ICR requirement document, e.g.:
Boundary
Baseline
Additionality
Quantification
Monitoring
When establishing methodological criteria and procedures, ISO 14064-2 states in section 6.1 that project proponents shall identify, consider, and use all relevant criteria and procedures for every stage of the GHG project cycle where these are available. Here, consideration of section 0.3 in ISO 14064-2 is relevant.
If criteria and procedures are not available, the project proponent shall use relevant current good practice guidance. The project proponent shall select and apply established criteria and procedures from a recognized origin if available. Often, methodologies developed under GHG programs are considered a recognized origin.
Please refer to the ICR methodology approval process if the project proponent intends to develop a new methodology.
All documentation, irrespective of the origin of methodology, criteria, and procedures, shall use available templates on the ICR website and follow any instructions outlined. Note, however, section 6.
Copyright of methodologies developed by entities other than ICR following the ICR methodology approval process are theirs, not ICR's. Methodologies developed by ICR are the copyright of ICR.
Methodologies not developed by ICR may be subject to copyright. Methodologies, however, contain standardized processes for, e.g., measuring and verifying GHG emissions reductions or removals associated with a project or activity. They establish criteria and procedures, e.g., for establishing baseline, boundary, monitoring, and quantifying the amount of carbon dioxide or other GHGs that are reduced, avoided, or removed from the atmosphere due to the project implementation.
Copyright law protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression, like an issued methodology. However, it does not protect ideas, procedures, methods, or systems, even if they are included in methodologies. Therefore, using or referencing processes, methods, and procedures in a methodology typically does not violate its copyright (if it exists).
Processes, methods, or procedures may be eligible for protection under different forms of intellectual property, including patents. Nevertheless, the ICR does not have any records of GHG programs or methodologies developed under those programs being protected under patent law. Should a methodology's processes be patented, the methodology documentation should explicitly mention this information.
ICR, however, respects the associated cost of developing methodologies. Where a methodology has been developed partially or entirely by third parties approved and published by other GHG programs and is applied in all significant aspects, as a good practice guidance, to demonstrate conformity to ISO 14064-2 and ICR requirements methodology developer(s) may be eligible to receive royalties from project proponents applying the methodology.
Where ICR deems a methodology has been applied, developers are offered royalties according to the ICR fee schedule as compensation for their contribution. ICR determines eligibility on a case-by-case basis. Methodology fees are collectible for 12 months from transfers of ICCs applying the respective methodology. If not collected, ICR will deposit the methodology fee to a methodology development fund.
ICR acknowledges and makes explicit the copyrights of approved methodologies (or other methodologies). ICR respects and preserves the existing trademarks and logos in the published materials (methodologies from other GHG programs).
A project concept refers to the basic outline and description of an initiative to mitigate GHG emissions or sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Project proponents may submit a project concept in the ICR registry where they have not completed the project documentation according to the ICR requirement document and procedures.
For the public viewing project concepts, they should be aware that there's no certainty that the project will be implemented or issue ICCs in the future. Projects listed as a "Project concept" are not considered pre-registered or registered.
Information needed to be eligible for listing a project concept is submitting a project concept description. If the project proponent intends to develop a methodology, he may submit a methodology concept note.
Information to complete in the registry platform:
Descriptive project name
Short descriptive summary of project activities
Website
Estimated start date
Sector
Estimation of additionality levels
Other SDGs
Project type
Location of the project
Documentation:
Project concept note
Methodology concept note (optional)
Projects may be listed as a project concept for up to 6 months. If the concept status has not been updated to "under development" and has been pre-registered after six months, the concept listing will be withdrawn from the public registry.
After the project proponent has submitted the project concept for review, ICR shall respond within one week of submission of the project concept.
When ICR has no further observations of the information provided or the documentation, ICR approves the project concept 1 week after the proponent has attended to the findings raised by ICR.
If ICR suspects that the information and documentation submitted are false or misleading, ICR reserves all rights to decline a request to list the project concept and disclose the occasion.
Where a project requesting a listing of a project concept has not followed the instructions and ICR believes it is spam, ICR reserves the right to reject the listing request without providing any findings to the proponent.
The ICR registry features a project pipeline that showcases projects before their official registration. Projects can be pre-registered during initial development stages, marked as "under development," or categorized as "under validation" when prepared to initiate the validation process.
Project proponents applying for pre-registration of a climate project in the ICR registry can do so at any time before or during the implementation of the actual project and its operations. Pre-registration may be to showcase projects in implementation for potential off-takers or investors or to increase awareness of prominent climate actions being developed. Pre-registration of a project does not constitute a validation by the ICR of the project or its eligibility for final registration. Pre-registration is a preliminary review of project information provided to the ICR. It is not a final determination of the project's eligibility or validation, nor does it guarantee the issuance of instruments.
When validating or verifying the project activities, the VVB shall check the project's status in the ICR registry. If the project has not been pre-registered with the ICR, the VVB shall advise the proponent to do so. When the VVB has been contracted for validation/verification, they have access to the project in the registry, and the audit team will have access to all documentation submitted to the ICR.
When the project proponent has completed a draft PDD, an admin initiates registration of a new project from the ICR registry platform's organizational account, and the editor may modify information. See the ICR user guide for details of pre-registration items.
The project proponent appoints an individual(s) or an entity responsible for communication with ICR throughout the crediting period of the project activities depicted in the project design description as an "Authorized representative." The appointment is done in a representation deed[4].
If the individual is not already holding a user ID, the organization provides the individual authorization to be associated with the project with a user ID with admin rights for the project during the completion of the registration form. See details in the ICR user guide.
The admin can invite other users to edit and modify information about the project. They are added as editors to the project.
Note: editors may edit information about the project, upload documentation, and share insights, but admins are also permitted to submit projects for review by the ICR and request issuances.
When the registration form has been completed, an admin submits the project for pre-registration in the ICR registry platform as either "under development" or "under validation." The difference represents the status of implementation and the contractual relationship with a VVB. Those under validation are projects that have completed the project design description and contracted a VVB for validation (and verification), while projects "under development" have not.
Documentation needed for pre-registration for "under development":
Projects eligible for pre-registration shall submit the following documentation and approve terms and conditions applicable for projects in the registry platform ("project agreement" ):
Proof of ownership (private document)
A draft project design description (or project design description and monitoring report) with the following sections completed[5] (public document):
1.1 - 1.16
2.1 – 2.4
4.1 – 4.4 (if applicable)
Representation deed (private document)
Documentation needed for registration for "under validation."
To register the project as "Under validation," the following documentation shall be submitted:
Proof of ownership (private document)
Completed project design description with all sections completed (public document)
Proof of contracting a VVB, proof of contracting can be in the form of a legal agreement, letter of intent/memorandum of understanding (private document)
Representation deed (if applicable) (private document)
For projects initially pre-registered as under development, the status shall be updated to "under validation" before the validation starts, providing all necessary documentation listed for projects "under validation" and selecting the VVB contracted to conduct the validation from the registry platform.
All documents regarding the project shall be submitted in electronic format.
The project proponent uploads all relevant documents to the ICR registry. The project proponent shall use information from the project documents to complete the registration form in the ICR registry. All documents uploaded should be posted publicly, except for commercially sensitive information and proof of contracting.
The project proponent pays all relevant outstanding fees according to applicable Terms and conditions and the fee schedule.
When fees have been received, ICR reviews submitted documents and information provided in the registry platform for completion and consistency.
If the submitted documentation is insufficient, the proponent is informed of corrections/improvements needed.
The project status is confirmed by ICR as "under development" or "under validation," subject to review of the documentation and confirmation by ICR.
If more than one proponent or developer represents a project, all organizations are subject to the terms of the project agreement and shall submit an agreement where one focal for the project is appointed, see section 10.1. Other proponents shall be added as partners to the project in the registry platform.
Relevant documentation shall be uploaded to the ICR platform for pre-registration of the project and public disclosure. The project is registered as appropriate as "under development" or "under validation."
All submitted documents and records are kept for at least seven years after the last retirement of the instrument issued and activated resulting from the project activities. If the project that has been pre-registered fails to complete registration and no ICCs are issued, documents and records are kept for at least seven years.
All information about a project that is registered on-chain can't be removed[6].
If a project has been pre-registered and does not complete validation within 12 months. from initial pre-registration, the project status is updated to "Inactive." Subject to objective evidence of ongoing implementation, the status is updated or reverted. Pre-registered projects shall complete validation and registration within 24 months from initial pre-registration. If projects do not complete validation and registration within 24 months, they're delisted from the ICR registry.
If ICR suspects that the information and documentation submitted are false or misleading, ICR reserves all rights to delist the project and disclose the occasion.
When the project has been pre-registered on the ICR registry and relevant documentation made available on the ICR registry platform, stakeholders may comment on the project and its public documentation. Comments on the project activities shall be submitted to admin@carbonregistry.com with information, e.g., name, organization, address, and email address of the disclosing party. Comments received are shared with the project proponent and the VVB.
Where the project requesting pre-registration has not followed the instructions and ICR believes it is spam, ICR reserves the right to reject the pre-registration request without providing any findings to the proponent.
When ICR determines that the project does not conform to the ICR program, ICR will reject the pre-registration request.
After the proponent has requested a review by the ICR for pre-registration and all fees paid, the ICR shall respond with findings within two weeks. When the proponent has resolved all outstanding issues raised by ICR, ICR shall complete the pre-registration within one week.
Before a project may be registered, it needs to be validated by an approved VVB. A list of approved VVBs may be found on ICR's website and the registry platform.
When projects have been pre-registered, and the project design description has been completed, projects can undergo validation[7].
Before initiating the validation, the project design description needs to be completed and submitted to ICR as it is submitted to the VVB for assessment.
The project proponent shall use all applicable templates from ICR for the documentation and follow all outlined instructions.
If the project includes other environmental or social benefits subject to validation, the proponent shall inform the VVB and add it as criteria for validation, and necessary documentation shall be made available for the VVB for validation. ICR allows for additional labeling of other certifications or other benefits, such as the UN Global Goals. The proponent shall disclose during registration and to the VVB if he intends to have the benefits verified.
Other benefits shall be described in the project design description and on the project registration page.
For validation to be completed, the project design description shall meet the validation criteria, i.e., conform to all requirements of ISO 14064-2, the ICR requirement document, and, where relevant, the applied methodology. Note that the minimum criteria for validation are the ICR requirement document and ISO 14064-2. The project proponent may decide to have an approved methodology as an added criterion for validation.
The project proponent shall adhere to and demonstrate conformity to all applicable requirements.
All documents regarding the project shall be submitted to the VVB in electronic format or a format requested by the VVB.
The proponent shall not request to change the registration status to "Validated" until it has completed validation, received the validation report, and the VVB has submitted the report to ICR.
The validation process shall be completed for projects to be eligible for registration and issuance of ICCs. With limitations, projects are eligible to issue ICCs post validation (prior to monitoring and verification). See section 3.4 in the ICR requirement document. If project proponents issue ex-ante ICCs after validation of projects, they are inactive and, as such, can't be retired by organizations holding them. Ex-ante ICCs can, however, be transferred. Issuance of ex-post ICCs is subject to verification of GHG emission mitigation outcomes by the VVB. Note that issuance of ICCs ex-ante does not guarantee them becoming ex-post ICCs, as discussed under section 4.2.1.
Criteria for validation, including requirements for VVB, are set out in the ICR requirement document. Further guidance and specifications on validation and verification may be found in ICR validation and verification specifications. Projects must complete validation before requesting registration and issuance of ICCs. The process for requesting issuance of ICCs is discussed under section 0.
The proponent shall identify the relevant criteria for validation and verification in the registry platform. See the ICR user guide.
When the proponent has contracted a VVB for validation, the VVB is selected in the registry platform that will conduct the validation/verification of the project. When the VVB has been selected, he will have access to all information relevant to the project on the registry platform. See further in the ICR user guide.
The VVB shall review if the information in the project registration aligns with the documentation. Further, any images or posts the project proponent shares relate to the project activities.
Project proponents shall submit documentation to the VVB according to requests by the VVB.
The VVB assesses the documentation and accompanying evidence of conformity to ISO 14064-2 requirements, the ICR requirement document, and, where applicable, the applied methodology or other criteria.
The VVB submits findings to the project proponent with findings and requests for corrective actions as applicable.
If applicable, the project proponent responds to the requests for corrective actions, and the VVB assesses the measures taken.
The VVB submits the final validation report with findings to the project proponent and uploads it to the registry platform.
The project proponent shall review that all relevant and necessary documentation has been uploaded to the registry and that relevant documents are available for public access.
Project design description,
Validation report,
Methodology specific documentation,
Documentation relating to other criteria,
Representation deed.
Validation plan,
Validation agreement,
Ownership proof.
When the proponent has confirmed that all documentation necessary for the registration has been uploaded, the project status may be changed to "Validated." A project proponent admin shall request a review of the project for registration from the registry platform.
ICR reviews the documentation and validation report for completeness, findings, and opinion.
If the validation report or supporting and required documents are insufficient or need clarification, ICR advises the VVB and/or the project proponent, respectively.
The project proponent initiates the registration process from the ICR platform. The project review process is initiated when relevant documentation for registration or renewal of the crediting period is submitted to ICR via the registry platform. The process initiates no sooner than when all necessary documentation has been submitted to ICR and a request has been submitted by an authorized representative (admin) from the ICR registry platform. The project review process consists of a documentation review.
Registration is possible when the project has been validated, the proponent has resolved all non-conformities, and the VVB has submitted the validation report.
The project review fee shall be paid before ICR completes the project review and the project is registered in the registry.
When a project is registered, relevant documents shall be made available in the registry platform as follows and are disclosed publicly:
Project design description,
Validation report,
Methodology specific documentation,
Documentation relating to conformity to other criteria,
The following documents shall be provided to the ICR and are not disclosed publicly:
Representation deed.
Validation plan,
Validation agreement,
Ownership proof.
Project proponents shall advise ICR before disclosure if any documentation is subject to non-disclosure or confidentiality.
The purpose of documentation review is to ensure that all applicable documents are complete and signed where necessary. When an eligible VVB has completed the validation and/or verification, GHG emission mitigation outcomes have not been issued as instruments under another GHG program (or been cancelled as appropriate), appropriate information has been used to complete all project documents, the VVB holds required accreditation, and the competence of the audit team is appropriate. Further, check if the newest versions of methodologies or tools have been applied and if all information provided in the registry platform is consistent with the project documentation.
If information is missing or incorrect, ICR will request that project documentation be updated, or information be added to the registry platform. Any findings from the documentation review shall be addressed before the registration or issuance request for instruments can be completed.
The registry stores all project documents in its record-keeping system for at least seven years from the retirement date of the last ICC to which the project documents relate.[8]
If the project proponent or VVB fails to address findings from the ICR, the ICR informs the VVB and/or the project proponent that the project has failed to demonstrate conformity to the ICR program requirements and is ineligible for registration or issuance.
Note that documentation review is also applicable for all issuances of ICCs ex-post. See section 0.
When the project has completed both validation and verification, the sections below are also applicable, but monitoring reporting shall be included in the ICR project design description and monitoring report.
After the proponent has requested a review by the ICR for registration, the ICR shall respond with findings within four weeks after all fees have been paid. When the proponent (or VVB) has responded to findings raised or resolved all outstanding issues raised by ICR, ICR shall complete a review of responses and/or the registration within two weeks.
After validation and final step in the registration process of a climate project, ICR publishes publicly the validated estimation of GHG emission mitigations (ICCs) for the crediting period. This involves no-issuance event but merely a transparent public disclosure of validated projected GHG emission mitigations, which may be compared later to actual GHG emission mitigations of the project.
During the project's operation, the GHG emission mitigations shall be monitored according to the monitoring plan and reported in a monitoring report. Any deviations from the monitoring plan shall be addressed and justified in the monitoring report.
If a deviation has been made to the project design description, a revised project design description shall be issued and uploaded to the registry as a public document, along with an updated validation report.
When a VVB has been contracted, the project proponent shall submit a verification agreement and verification plan to the registry. Further, the proponent shall select the contracted VVB from the registry platform.
Proponents shall select the monitoring period and monitored GHG emission mitigations when they submit monitoring reports. An admin shall submit the monitoring report and request review. See the ICR user guide.
After monitoring, the GHG emission mitigation shall be verified by an approved VVB to be eligible for issuance of ex-post ICCs. If ICCs have been issued ex-ante, verification is mandatory to activate ex-ante credits.
When GHG emission mitigation outcomes have been monitored according to the monitoring plan and verified by the VVB, ex-post ICCs may be issued, and ICCs may be activated; see section 4.3.
Criteria for verification, including requirements for VVB, are set out in the ICR requirement document. Further guidance and specifications on validation and verification may be found in ICR validation and verification specifications. Projects must complete verification before requesting issuance of ex-post ICCs. The process for requesting issuance of ICCs post-monitoring is discussed under section 4.3. The proponent shall identify the relevant criteria for verification in the registry platform. See the ICR user guide.
When the proponent has contracted a VVB for verification, the VVB is selected in the registry platform that will conduct the verification of the GHG emission mitigations. When the VVB has been selected, he will have access to all information relevant to the project on the registry platform. See further in the ICR user guide.
The VVB shall review if the information in the project registration aligns with the documentation. Further, assess any images or insights the project proponent publicly shares that relate to the project activities.
Project proponents shall submit documentation to the VVB according to VVB's request.
The VVB assesses the monitoring and accompanying evidence of conformity to the verification criteria.
The VVB submits findings to the project proponent with findings and requests for corrective actions as applicable.
If applicable, the project proponent responds to the requests for corrective actions, and the VVB assesses any measures taken.
The VVB submits the final verification report with findings to the project proponent and uploads it to the registry platform.
The project proponent shall indicate the monitoring period in the registry and review that all relevant and necessary documentation has been uploaded to the registry and that relevant documents are available for public access.
Updated project design description (if applicable),
New validation report (if applicable),
Monitoring report,
Verification report,
and the following documents are private
Validation plan (if applicable)
Verification plan
Verification agreement.
ICR reviews the request to ensure all documents are complete and signed where necessary. An eligible VVB has conducted the verification, instruments have not been issued under another GHG program (or been cancelled as appropriate) for the same GHG emission mitigation, and appropriate information is included in all documentation. The VVB holds the necessary accreditation, and the competence of the audit team is appropriate. Further, to check if the newest versions of methodologies or tools have been applied and all information provided in the registry platform is consistent with the project documentation.
When the verification has been confirmed, ICCs are minted and delivered to the ICR holding account. The supply of verified ex-post ICCs for the monitoring period is provided on-chain[9]. Ex-ante ICCs issued are activated corresponding to ex-ante ICCs that have been transferred to other accounts within the ICR registry and ICCs sitting on adjustment accounts.
The project proponent may issue ICCs according to monitoring findings as stated in the monitoring report and verified according to the verification report, see section 4.3.
If the crediting period has been renewed, a revised project design description and new validation report and validation agreement shall be provided to ICR.
If the crediting period has been renewed, the following documents shall be uploaded to the registry as public documents.
Revised project design description
Methodology specific documentation
New validation report
and the following documents are private
Validation agreement
Validation plan
Ownership proof.
Representation deed.
For renewal, the proponent shall follow section 3.4.
ICR issuing carbon credits on a blockchain offers several advantages in terms of transparency and security compared to traditional databases. Blockchain operates on a decentralized network of computers, which means that the data is not stored in a single location; see section 1.2 further. This enhances transparency, as every transaction on the blockchain is recorded on a public ledger accessible to anyone. This means that all ICC transactions, e.g., issuances, transfers, and retirements, are publicly visible, making it easier to track their origin and ensure they are not double-counted. Once a transaction is recorded on a blockchain, it cannot be altered or deleted. This immutability provides a high level of security against tampering and fraud. This ensures that the records are accurate and remain unaltered, thereby maintaining the integrity of the credits.
Ex-ante and ex-post ICCs differ primarily in terms of the timing of the realization of the GHG emission mitigations activities they represent:
Ex-ante ICCs are issued based on projected or expected GHG emission mitigations that will occur in the future. They are issued before the actual impacts, based on predictive calculations or models of the project's expected impact. Ex-ante ICCs become ex-post ICCs subject to successful verification of impacts.
Ex-post ICCs are issued after the GHG emission mitigations have occurred and been verified. These credits represent real, measurable GHG emission mitigations that have been achieved and verified, confirming the project's actual impact.
Issuance of ICCs, either ex-ante or ex-post may generally be described according to the following diagram.
Ex-ante issuance refers to the issuance of ICCs before impacts, and ex-post issuance refers to issuance after verification of real impacts. Ex-ante ICCs have vintages in the future, but ex-post vintages in the past.
Issuances are either pre-monitoring (ex-ante) or post-verification (ex-post). The ICR registry displays the status of every ICC that has been issued. ICR allows projects that have been validated to issue ex-ante ICCs. ICCs may have a different status that represents the attribute of the credit. ICCs may be inactive (ex-ante), active (ex-post), retired, or cancelled. Please refer to ICR definitions for detailed definitions on different statuses. The project proponent may request partial or complete issuance of ICCs in the registry, subject to limitations. See section 3.4 in the ICR requirement document.
When a proponent requests partial issuance, it shall be no less than 10.000 t CO2-e for each issuance unless validated or verified GHG emissions mitigations are less than 10.000 t CO2-e. When registration and issuance coincide, the documentation review is completed in parallel.
Serial numbers play an important role in ensuring the integrity and traceability of carbon credits. Even though the tokenization of credits on chain ensures the uniqueness of a project and a credit, a credit serial number further serves as a consistent unique identifier assigned to each vintage of each project, representing a reduction, avoidance, or removal of CO2-e. The serial number ensures that each credit is distinct and traceable. Relying on serial numbers helps prevent double counting and fraud. It ensures that a specific carbon credit can be tracked throughout its lifecycle, from issuance to retirement, which is essential for maintaining credibility.
The serialization of ICCs helps to see the credits' attributes and compare projects easily. The serialization structure is provided below.
Component | Order | Type | Length | Range | Comment |
Credit identifier | 1 | Letter | 3 | Text | Fixed value. Unique registry identifier. (ICC, FCC) |
Project Country | 2 | Letter | 3 | ISO 3166-1 | Three-letter country code for the project (e.g., Iceland is ISL). |
Project country dialing code | 3 | Numeric | 3 | 1-999 | Three-digit country code for the project (e.g., Iceland is 354). |
Project ID | 4 | Numeric | 4 | 1-9999 | Registry assigned identifier for the project, unique in the registry. |
Sector | 5 | Numeric | 2 | 1-16 | Sectors from CDM |
Type | 6 | Letter | 1 | A, R, H | Avoidance, Removal, Hybrid |
Host country attestation | 7 | Numeric | 1 | 1;0 | 1 = Yes, 0 = No attestation |
Vintage (Year) | 8 | Numeric | 4 | 0-9999 | The vintage year of the credits. |
Multiple project activities | 9 | Numeric | 3 | 0-999 | ID of a sub-project. If not multiple project activities, this identifier is not used. |
Example: ICC-ISL-354-33-13-A-0-2022
GHG program: International Carbon Registry
Project Country: Iceland
Dialling code: 354
Project ID: 33
Sector: Waste handling and disposal
Type: Avoidance
Host country attestation: No approval for ITMO transfer.
Vintage: 2022
Multiple project activities: Not a Multiple project activity.
ICR acknowledges the importance of early funding projects to minimize associated costs, access to funding, and the possibility of quickly scaling climate methodologies/projects. Therefore, project proponents can issue ICCs after projects have been validated and before GHG emission mitigation outcomes have been verified, subject to limitations as further discussed in the ICR requirement document. This may ease funding, facilitate climate actions, scale climate actions, and provide market visibility and credibility to climate projects. Note that ICCs are issued based on validated estimation of GHG emissions mitigation outcomes. Ex-ante ICCs cannot be retired until verified and exchanged for ex-post ICCs.
Issuance is allowed for projects where mitigations have not been verified, i.e., pre-monitoring and verification if they meet additionality level 4b or have insurance cover or warranty to compensate for any non-performance of the projects. Meeting level 4b allows issuing up to 50% of validated GHG emission mitigation for each vintage for the crediting period, notwithstanding ICCs demarcated for adjustment account(s). Projects with insurance cover or warranty may issue ex-ante ICCs up to 100% of the validated GHG emission mitigations.
When ICCs are issued ex-ante, the proponent shall either:
Meet additionality level 4b, or
Have insurance cover or warranty for non-performance.
Project meeting additionality level 4b and issue ex-ante ICCs shall deposit 2% to an adjustment account. The adjustment account is to rectify issued ICCs that fail to result in real mitigations or reversal events.[10]
Ex-ante allows issuing up to 50% of validated GHG emission mitigation of each vintage for the crediting period, notwithstanding ICCs demarcated for adjustment account.
Projects with insurance covered or warranty by a licensed insurance company for non-performance may issue up to 100% of validated GHG emission mitigation of each vintage for the crediting period. The insurance cover shall be publicly available.
All ex-ante ICCs have not been verified for real GHG emission mitigation outcomes and are inactive. As such, they can't be retired and used to offset emissions. When an approved VVB has verified GHG emission mitigation outcomes, ICCs are replaced with ex-post ICCs and may be retired (see section 4.2.1Error! Reference source not found.).
Vintages are displayed for ICCs based on validated estimates in the project design description and validation report for ex-ante issuance of ICCs.[11]
Requests for issuance of ex-ante ICCs are made from the registration platform. See the ICR user guide for further information.
This process relates to verification submission when projects have issued ex-ante ICCs.
For each verified monitoring period, the project proponent shall submit a monitoring report and a verification report and request the conversion of ex-ante ICCs to ex-post ICCs.
When monitoring and verification have been completed, the proponent shall submit the monitoring and verification reports from the registry and request review. When the review has been completed, ICR converts the corresponding number of ex-ante credits to ex-post credits.
If verified GHG emission mitigations are greater than issued ex-ante ICCs, ex-post credits are delivered directly to current holders of ex-ante ICCs, and ex-ante ICCs are replaced with ex-post ICCs, subject to confirmation by ICR admin.
If verified GHG emission mitigations are less than issued ex-ante ICCs and the monitoring period for the respective vintage has not been closed, ex-post ICCs (according to the verified GHG emission mitigations) are delivered to an escrow account. ICCs remain on the escrow account until the monitoring for the respective vintage has been completed and verified. The project proponent shall complete verification of the respective vintage within 12 months.
If, after the completion of the verification of the monitoring period, verified GHG emission mitigations are greater than issued ex-ante ICCs, ex-post ICCs are delivered from the escrow account, and remaining ex-post credits to the current holders of ex-ante ICCs and any excess ex-post ICCs may be issued according to the verification report.
If, after verifying the monitoring period, verified GHG emission mitigations are still less than issued ex-ante ICCs, 3. applies.
If monitoring for a monitoring period, where a vintage has been completed, and verification confirms fewer GHG emission mitigations than the number of issued ex-ante ICCs for the respective monitoring period (vintage), the project proponent is responsible for compensating for excess ex-ante issuance unless insurance or warranty covers non-performance of the project.
The following applies for compensation by the proponent:
The project proponent shall deposit ex-post ICCs of earlier vintage to an escrow account within the ICR registry. ICCs shall be owned by the project proponent. Excess ICCs shall be deposited from the project proponent's registry account and shall not have been retired or cancelled. Such ICCs deposited to an escrow account shall be delivered to the current holders of ex-ante with ex-post ICCs issued for the respective vintage subject to non-performance, proportionally.
Deposit of issued ex-post ICCs from subsequent vintages of ICCs to the project following the same requirements as in i. If the project proponent has insufficient holdings on the account, deductions shall be made after subsequent monitoring and verification, subject to approval by current affected holders of ex-ante ICCs.
Purchase by the project proponent of an equivalent number of replacement ICCs or equivalent carbon credits issued by an approved GHG program for the same project type, sector, and vintage, determined by the ICR. Such ICCs shall be deposited to an escrow account within the ICR registry. Other carbon credits shall be cancelled for the same amount. The deposit or cancellation shall be completed within 60 business days of receiving formal notification of such required action from ICR. ICCs deposited or remaining on an escrow account shall be delivered to the current holders of ex-ante with ex-post ICCs issued for the respective vintage subject to non-performance proportionally. When carbon credits have been cancelled, confirmation from the ICR of such cancellation shall be delivered to the current ex-ante holders.
Where the project proponent fails to compensate for excess issuance and non-performance, ICR may act against the project proponent, including applying sanctions with respect to its registry account activities until the excess issuance has been compensated.
In cases where the project proponents fail to compensate for over-issuance and non-performance, ICR will deliver ex-post ICCs from the ICR adjustment account to the escrow account. Such ICCs deposited to an escrow account shall be delivered to the current holders of ex-ante, proportionally with ex-post ICCs issued for the respective vintage subject to non-performance.
If insurance or warranty covers part or total non-performance, the insurance or warranty terms shall compensate for the non-performance of the ex-ante issuances.
If the VVB has verified that GHG emission mitigation is more than issued ex-ante ICCs, the project proponent may issue the remaining ICCs not eligible for ex-ante issuance at registration, see section 4.2. Further, if monitoring confirms fewer/more mitigations than estimated in the project design description and verified by VVB, additional issuance shall be made accordingly for the monitoring period.
For each monitoring period that has been verified, the ex-post ICCs may be issued.
When ICCs are issued for a monitoring period, relevant documents shall be provided to ICR that are disclosed publicly:
Monitoring report,
Verification report[12],
Methodology specific documentation,
Documentation relating to conformity to other criteria,
Documentation regarding cancellation of GHG credits under another GHG program (if applicable) or statement of no double issuance.
Further, the following documents shall be provided to the ICR and are not disclosed publicly:
Verification plan,
Verification agreement.
If material deviation to the project design description has been applied during implementation and a revised project design description has been issued, the new version of the project design description shall be provided to the VVB for validation and to ICR, accompanied by a new validation report. The new version of the validation report and the previous version are available publicly.
Project proponents shall advise ICR before disclosure if any documentation is subject to non-disclosure or confidentiality.
During issuance, the proponent shall select which documents are private or public.
ICR reviews the monitoring and verification reports for completeness, findings, and opinion.
If the verification report or supporting and required documents are insufficient, ICR advises the VVB and/or the project proponent, respectively.
All documentation shall be submitted to ICR via electronic means.
Issuance of ICCs is subject to a successful documentation review.
After issuance of ICCs, they are first deposited to the ICR holding account, as discussed in section 3.7, until the proponent requests to have them delivered to his account. ICR only invoices issuance of ICCs delivered to the proponent's account[13]. ICR can only transfer ICCs issued by the proponent to the ICR holding account to his registry account. Whenever the proponent intends to have ICCs delivered from the ICR holding account, he requests delivery from the registry platform. See the ICR registry user guide.
ICR addresses the risk associated with project activities' non-permanence and non-performance of estimated GHG emission mitigation outcomes by requiring the project proponent to set aside non-tradable adjustment ICC credits. This is completed to cover unforeseen losses in carbon stocks and unforeseen obstacles in the operations of projects. The adjustment credits from all CDR projects are held in ICR's single pooled buffer adjustment account. Buffer adjustment ICCs can be drawn upon in the event of a reversal in carbon stocks, or if projects fail to produce real GHG emission mitigation outcomes in any individual project where ICCs have been retired or from the ICR adjustment account, then ICCs have been transferred ex-ante in an inactive state and fail to deliver validated GHG emission mitigations.
Deposits to adjustment accounts are completed during the issuance of ICCs.
When credits are issued ex-ante with permanence risk, the buffer adjustment is applicable for the ex-ante issuance of ICCs.
The number of ICCs to be deposited in the pooled buffer account is determined by non-permanence risk following the requirements in the ICR requirement document. The non-permanence risk rating and this percentage are applied to the project's carbon stocks verified to determine the number of ICCs to be deposited in the ICR pooled buffer account.
At the submission of the verification report and minting of ICCs to the ICR holding account, ICR allocates the buffer credits to the ICR buffer adjustment account. Buffer ICCs are not subject to issuance fees.
ICCs within the pooled buffer adjustment account from different projects are functionally distinct, although administered in one pooled account in the ICR registry. Therefore, ICCs from the same project types will compensate for reversal events for the same project type. ICR will retire ICCs from the buffer adjustment account to compensate for reversals on a first-in, first-out rule after identifying which ICCs meet the criteria above for reversal compensation.
Cancellation of buffer ICCs
Buffer credits are cancelled from the ICR buffer account when a reversal event or other events result in the loss of carbon stocks issued as ex-post ICCs. When buffer ICCs are cancelled, the reversal event resulting in the cancellation is disclosed as the reason.
Reversal events
In the event of a potential reversal event, the project proponent shall notify ICR within 30 days of discovering the potential reversal event. If there have been previous issuances of ICCs, the report must be prepared and submitted to the ICR Registry, following these guidelines:
The reversal event report shall use the ICR reversal event report template. Based on monitoring the entire affected area, it shall contain a conservative estimation of the reversal of previously verified GHG emission mitigations due to decreases in carbon stocks from the project.
The reversal event report shall be submitted to the ICR registry within two years from the discovery date of the reversal event. Failure to submit the reversal event report within this timeframe will render the project ineligible to issue ICCs.
The ICR registry will temporarily hold buffer credits from the ICR buffer adjustment account, equivalent to the estimated reversal stated in the reversal event report.
The project proponent shall account for the reversal at the following verification after the reversal event.
If the verified net GHG emission mitigations are negative, the withheld buffer credits shall be cancelled, and any remaining buffer credits released.
If the reversal is greater than stated in the reversal event report, an equivalent number of buffer credits are cancelled.
The withheld buffer credits are released if the GHG emission mitigations are positive.
ICR reversal event report shall be publicly available.
Project proponents shall deposit adjustment credits into the adjustment account following this process.
The number of credits to be deposited in the adjustment account is 2% of each issuance of ICCs, irrespective of the timing of issuance prior to verification.
Adjustment credits are essentially considered ICCs but are only eligible for compensation for non-performance events. Adjustment credits are not subject to any issuance fees.
At verification events, they are converted to ex-post ICCs and can be used to compensate for non-performance.
At the end of each project crediting period, the project proponent can apply for reimbursement of deposits of adjustment credits. They are reimbursed by ICR's sole discretion and with respect to the status of the adjustment account and cancellations made by the ICR due to non-permanence and/or non-performance.
Non-performance
In the event of a non-performance of the project, the project proponent shall notify ICR within 30 days of discovering non-performance. If there have been previous issuances of ex-ante ICCs, the report must be prepared and submitted to the ICR registry following these guidelines:
The non-performance report shall use the ICR non-performance report template. It shall contain a conservative estimation of the impacts of previously validated GHG emission mitigations due to the non-performance of the project based on monitoring.
The non-performance report shall be submitted to the ICR registry within six months from the non-performance discovery date. Failure to submit the non-performance report within this timeframe will render the project ineligible to issue further ICCs.
The ICR registry will temporarily hold adjustment credits from the ICR adjustment account, equivalent to the estimated difference stated in the non-performance report.
The proponent shall account for the non-performance at the following verification after the project.
If the net GHG emission mitigations verified are greater than issued ex-ante ICCs
the project proponent shall compensate for the difference by replacing ICCs from the same project.
Notify the insurer of non-performance and exercise the insurance or warranty.
If the proponent can't compensate, adjustment credits are cancelled, and any remaining adjustment credits are released.
ICR non-performance report shall be publicly available.
If the GHG emission mitigations are less than issued ex-ante credits, the proponent shall use any ex-post credits to replace ex-ante credits, and the withheld adjustment credits will be released.
Transfers, retirements, and cancellations have specific meanings. A transfer means transferring an instrument from one account to another and representing a transfer of beneficial ownership of GHG emission mitigation entitlements. Retirement means permanently removing an ICC from circulation in the registry system, representing a compensation of one metric tonne of CO2 equivalent (CO2-e). Cancellation means permanently removing an ICC from circulation in the registry system for purposes other than retirement (e.g., converting ICCs into another form of GHG credit, compensating for excess ICC issuance, expiry, etc.). See further in ICR definitions. The ICR user guide provides details about transfers, retirements, cancellations, and other credit actions.
Transfers involve transferring a set number of ICCs from one registry account to another. This process includes changing the rights to beneficial ownership of GHG emissions mitigations they represent as defined in ICR definitions. ICR registry functionality always guarantees instrument delivery, and buyers can always expect to have ICCs delivered.
Each transfer and related information, including the address of each credit, is traceable in the platform or through the blockchain ledger. Historical transfer can be accessed on the platform and public blockchain ledger.
From a registry account, an admin initiates a transfer from the registry. There are two instances of transfers.
Transfer to organizations that have accounts with ICR
Transfer to organizations that don't have an account with ICR
From the registry account, the organization admin either searches for the name of the organization receiving the ICCs or provides an account number of the organization registry account. The project, vintage, and number of ICCs to be transferred are provided, and then the transfer is completed and confirmed. Both entities receive a notification and confirmation of the transfer with an email and within the registry platform to admins. The organization can transfer credits in both active and retired states.
If the receiving organization has not established an account with ICR, the transferring organization needs to collect information about it to deliver the ICCs. Information required is.
Name of organization
Country of registration
Name of contact
Email of contact
By providing this information, the transferring organization can complete the transfer.
When completing the transfer, the transferring organization may choose to provide a comment to the receiving organization and, if the credits will be transferred in a retired state (only applicable for ex-post ICCs), a retirement reason. When transferring in a retired state, the receiving organization is the beneficiary of the retirement, and the transferring organization shall provide a reason for retirement.
After the transferring organization has confirmed the transfer, the contact person receives an email invitation to claim their user account and is provided with login details to access the ICCs in the ICR registry, where he can complete registration of the organization and view the inventory of ICCs and downloads certificates of retirement.
By default, the account created is private, with no public disclosure of inventory of ICCs or details of the organization. See further ICR registry user guide.
The process of retiring ICCs in the registry is set out below.
An organization account admin needs to initiate a retirement from his respective user account.
Details of all retirements are stored on-chain on a public ledger, also presented in the ICR registry platform.
The admin selects the respective ICR ICC credits, vintage, and the number of ICCs for retirement.
The admin provides information about the reason for retirement.
ICCs are retired from the registry account holder's ICC holdings (i.e. when the holder requests ICC retirement of a part of its holdings).
A retirement certificate can be downloaded from the platform when the retirement has been completed.
A cancellation of ICCs is initiated by the registry account holder, the other GHG program in which the registry account holder may participate, or ICR. Note that the initiator and recipient of an ICC cancellation request depend on the circumstances of cancellations (e.g., whether ICCs are being converted into another form of GHG credit). The cancellation request may be submitted to ICR by the other GHG program in which the registry account holder participates or collaborates.
An admin for a registry account initiates a cancelation from his user account.
The account holder may execute a cancellation through its ICR registry account. Details of all cancellations are recorded on the blockchain and mirrored in the registry platform.
The registry account holder may be asked to confirm the details of the request for ICC cancellation.
ICCs with a vintage T – 10 years, issued T – 3 years, and still active are cancelled by the ICR registry admin and are ineligible for retirement.
Projects registered under an approved GHG program with a start date after 1. January 2020 may transfer their registration or also register their projects with the ICR. In such cases, the documentation required for the project registration process is the same as required for projects registering under the ICR requirements only, but noting the following:
Reference to the project in the approved GHG program registry and for dual listing approval from the approved GHG program registry for dual registration.
The latest version of the project design description from the approved GHG program and the latest version of the validation report from the VVB shall be uploaded to the ICR registry.
Submission of the reason for transition or dual registration with ICR.
The proponent shall further complete the ICR project design description by providing information in the following sections in addition to the cover page.
1.1 - 1.16
2.1 – 2.4
4.1 – 4.4
During the next verification event, the VVB shall complete validation on conformity to the ICR program criteria, i.e., ICR requirement document and ISO 14064-2.
If a project remains registered with another GHG program that has completed monitoring and verification and the proponent intends to split up GHG emission mitigations between the ICR program and the approved GHG program. The proponent shall provide evidence that any GHG emission mitigation outcomes presented for ICCs issuance have not been and will not be issued as an environmental instrument under another GHG program or if such carbon credits have been issued under the GHG program that they have been cancelled. In the latter of these cases, the project proponent shall also sign and submit to ICR a formal letter of conversion to ICCs and provide evidence of cancellation.
AFOLU and CDR projects are subject to the rules and requirements for non-permanence risk analysis and buffer withholding in section 4.4.1 and the ICR requirement document. A risk assessment determines the buffer withholding percentage and shall be applied to the ICCs to be issued under the ICR program and deposited to the buffer adjustment account.
When a project, previously registered with another GHG program, seeks a renewal of the crediting period with the ICR, the project design description shall be updated using the ICR project design description template with relevant sections complete, as set out in the ICR requirement document and following instructions in the ICR templates. The criteria for validation shall be according to the ICR program. For the renewed crediting period, the ICR crediting period applies, and the project shall conform to ICR program criteria. Further, the project shall follow section 3 of the project cycle.
If projects have created another form of GHG-related environmental instruments, such as renewable energy certificates, evidence shall be provided to ICR demonstrating that the GHG emission mitigation outcomes presented for ICCs issuance have not also been recognized as another GHG-related environmental instrument or that any such instrument has not been used and have been cancelled under the relevant program.
If a project proponent wishes to withdraw a project from ICR (e.g., to transfer the project to another GHG program), the following applies:
The project proponent shall request formally that the project requests to be withdrawn from ICR. The letter shall, for a minimum, include the following:
Project name
Project ID
Reason for withdrawal
Signature of the authorized representative of the project.
ICR reviews the request and may request further information, e.g., outstanding fees payable or outstanding ICCs have been transferred and not been activated.
If ex-ante ICCs have been transferred and have not been activated, ICR may reject the request or require the project proponent to compensate for ICCs that have not been activated.
Upon approval of the request, the project's status is updated to "Closed" in the ICR registry, and details of the withdrawn project remain publicly available.
Any ICCs deposited to adjustment accounts cannot be reimbursed for the withdrawn project.
The process shall, from the time of submission of withdrawal, not exceed four weeks, subject to responses from the proponents to ICR clarification requests.
Withdrawn projects may rejoin the ICR conditional to a formal letter requesting participation and updated documentation.
Project description document
New validation report
Verification report
any methodology-specific documentation or other applicable documentation.
ICR reviews the documentation according to section 3.5 and determines if the project is eligible for participation again.
If the project is accepted, its status is updated accordingly.
All projects are subject to validation of projects and mitigations are subject to verification. Validation/verification bodies (VVBs) assess projects for conformity to ICRs requirements, ISO 14064-2. VVBs are qualified, independent third parties that ICR approves for validation and verification based on their accreditation. Validation and verification bodies are eligible to provide validation and verification services under the ICR if they have signed an agreement with ICR and are accredited under an ICR approved GHG program and/or accredited under ISO 14065 by an accreditation body that is a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).
VVBs who are in the process of achieving accreditation or expanding their sectoral scope of accreditation may conduct a validation or verification as a part of their witness audit during their accreditation process with a member of the IAF.
An authorized representative of the VVB completes an application form available on ICR's documentation page and submits it to ICR along with supporting evidence of accreditation.
ICR confirms receipt of the application within 24 hours, reviews the application for completeness, and further requests to complete KYC and KYB. If improvements are needed, the applicant is informed. The process continues when requested improvements are complete, and KYC and KYB have been completed.
ICR suggests an introductory meeting for ICR to introduce the ICR program, the program documentation, and the role of VVBs and respond to questions from the VVB. After the meeting ICR shares a standard VVB agreement.
If both parties agree upon the terms of the VVB agreement, it is electronically signed by both parties, formalizing the contractual relationship between the parties and disclosing the terms and conditions of the relationship.
If the VVB has not already created a registry account, ICR will provide the details of the VVB, sectoral scope of accreditation, and other relevant information. The authorized representative will be assigned an admin role for the account.
Further, the VVB is added to the project registration form as an option for VVB.
If the VVB does not comply with the terms and conditions of the VVB agreement, ICR may suspend or terminate the agreement. In such cases, ICR will change the status of approval.
VVBs validating projects and ex-ante estimation of GHG emission mitigations and requesting registration with the ICR shall follow ICR validation and verification specifications in addition to ISO 14064-3 when validating projects intending to register with the ICR.
In addition to the specifications, the VVB shall confirm that the project has been pre-registered with the ICR before signing a validation agreement with the project proponent.
During the validation assessment, the validation team shall be added as project members in the registry platform.
The validation team shall consider all information provided in the registry, the documentation provided by the project proponent, consistency with documentation provided to the VVB by the project proponent, and information in the registry platform.
The validation team shall consider all media provided by the proponent to the registry platform. All insights provided for the validation team shall assess if they relate to the project activities and represent the documentation fairly.
VVBs verifying monitoring reports and ex-post GHG emission mitigation shall follow ICR validation and verification specifications in addition to ISO 14064-3 when verifying projects' GHG emission mitigations and intending to issue ICCs with the ICR.
In addition to the specifications, the VVB shall confirm that the project has been validated and registered with the ICR before signing a verification agreement with the proponent[14].
During the verification assessment, the verification team shall be added as project members in the registry platform.
The verification team shall consider all information provided in the registry, the documentation provided by the project proponent, consistency with documentation provided to the VVB by the project proponent, and information in the registry platform.
The verification team shall consider all media provided by the proponent to the registry platform. For all insights provided, the verification team shall assess if they relate to the project activities and represent the documentation fairly.
The project registration, issuance, activation, or project crediting period renewal request process may be subject to an assessment of conformity by ICR. An assessment may be initiated at ICR's sole discretion.
ICR may, at its discretion, undertake an assessment of the registration, issuance, activation, or project crediting period renewal request to safeguard conformity to the principles and requirements of ICR.
If ICR undertakes such an assessment, ICR informs the project proponent and the VVB before any inspection is conducted. Any issues raised because of the assessment shall be addressed before further actions are completed in relation to the assessment of the project.
If no issues are raised during the assessment, ICR informs the project proponent and the VVB thereof, and the initiating process of the assessment can proceed.
If non-conformities are identified during the assessment, the project proponent and/or the VVB shall respond to the non-conformities by ICR. All communications shall be in writing by electronic means.
Where significant non-conformities are identified during the assessment, ICR informs the project proponent and/or the VVB and requests corrective action and/or clarification.
The project proponent and/or the VVB shall provide a written response to each non-conformity, undertake, or ensure that the project proponent undertakes, as appropriate, improvements to the documentation or other measures if necessary and submit all revised documents to ICR.
If findings are significant and not corrected to the satisfaction of ICR, ICR may conclude that the project has failed to demonstrate conformity to the principles, requirements, and/or applied methodology, and further registration, issuances, or activations are postponed until further notice or entirely withdrawn. ICR notifies the project proponent and the VVB. ICR will inform the relevant accreditation body of its findings.
If the project proponent and/or the VVB fails to address findings within 60 business days, ICR reserves the right to assume that the proponent does not intend to pursue further actions. If ICR has determined this to be the case, requests are not accepted, and ICR notifies the project proponent and the VVB.
At its discretion, ICR may review registered projects, issued ICCs, and activated ICCs if ICR has concerns about project conformity to the principles, requirements, and/or the applied methodology. Any of the following may initiate a review:
VVB identifies an error or quality issue in a previous validation or verification.
A project proponent identifies an error or quality issue after registration, issuance, or activation.
Interested party has concerns about a registered project.
ICR identifies error(s) or quality issues as part of routine operations or internal auditing.
If a conformity assessment is initiated, ICR informs the project proponent and the VVB of the review, which may postpone further issuance/activation while the assessment is performed.
If the findings identified during the review are significant, the VVB shall provide a written response to the findings. If not already suspended, ICR suspends further issuance/activation.
Follow-up actions of the VVB and/or project proponent shall include:
VVB shall conduct a root cause analysis.
If significant performance issues are found, and as appropriate, disciplinary action may be taken against the VVB, and its accreditation body will be informed.
VVB or project proponent, as appropriate, shall revise project documents.
The project proponent may need to compensate for excess issuance.
ICR cancels suspension on ICCs issuance and/or activations upon acceptance of project document revisions.
ICR and or the project proponent upload revised project documents to the registry.
When severe issues are ongoing and non-conformity to the principles, requirements, and/or, where relevant, applied methodology, ICR may cancel permission for future issuances of ICCs and/or registration of projects.
If ICR determines that ICCs have been issued in excess of the actual GHG emission mitigations, the following applies:
The project proponent shall deposit ICCs on ICR's adjustment account.
Where excess ICCs remain in the project proponent's registry account, and it can be demonstrated that they have not been used for compensation purposes, immediate cancellation of the ICCs.
Replacement of ICCs through immediate cancelation from subsequent issuances of ICCs from the project. If the project proponent has no holding on its registry account, deductions shall transfer to the subsequent activation of ICCs.
Purchase by the project proponent of an equivalent number of replacement ICCs and cancellation of the same within 60 business days of receiving formal ICR notification of such required action.
Where the project proponent fails to compensate for excess Issuance, ICR may act against it, including applying sanctions with respect to its registry account activities until such time as the excess issuance has been compensated.
The project proponent pays all costs associated with the assessment of conformity when it relates to the project documentation.
If the assessment of conformity relates to validation and/or verification, the project proponent shall not bear the cost of any additional assessment.
Where the assessment of conformity is initiated due to routine operation or internal audit, ICR bears the cost of the assessment.
ICR may, at its sole discretion, decide to outsource the assessment.
The purpose of a representation deed is to establish an authorized representation for a project by appointing a focal. This representative is selected by the project proponent(s) to serve as their focal in matters concerning a project and/or the organizational account(s). Templates for representation deeds are available on the ICR documentation page.
Where multiple project proponents are involved, they all need to sign the representation deed, which is then submitted to the ICR and the registry platform. The focal can either be a third party or selected from among the project proponents themselves.
A communications agreement can also be used to appoint representation authority for projects with a single proponent.
To revoke the authority of representation, the sole project proponent (in single proponent projects) or all the proponents (in multi-proponent projects) shall provide a signed written notice of this termination to ICR. Following this, the project proponent(s) need to adhere to the stipulations above to create a new representation deed, as applicable. The new representation deed overrides any previous (terminated) representation of the project.
At any given time, a project may only have one designated focal, as determined through the representation deed.
The focal shall appoint individuals from the registry platform who are allowed to act as authorized representatives for the project.
The authorized representatives are identified as "admin" in the registry platform of each project.
Project details may be updated regularly by the project proponent, and, as necessary, further information on causes may be provided.
Any changes to the validated project design description shall be documented as soon as they occur. An updated project design description shall be uploaded to the registry, along with an updated validation report as applicable.
Project proponents shall respectfully submit monitoring and verification reports per the monitoring and verification plans. If the project proponent fails to submit a monitoring and/or verification report to the registry within six months of the monitoring plan and verification plan, the following applies:
ICR requests evidence from the project proponent showing that the project is still active.
The project proponent shall submit objective evidence within 60 days of receiving the request.
If the project proponent fails to confirm continuing implementation/operation, ICR may act against the proponent, including applying sanctions regarding its registry account activities until continuing implementation/operation has been confirmed.
When a project has not submitted a monitoring and verification report for 12 months based on stipulations in the monitoring and verification plan, the project is identified as inactive.
Project proponents may use the insights feature in the registry platform to share information about project activities. Note that insights shall be used conservatively, and when sharing insights about a project, they shall relate to that particular project. Images and videos shared shall directly relate to the project and include geo-location in the image or video file.
Project proponents, developers, VVBs, or other organizations may use the insights feature to share insights about their organization unrelated to specific projects. When doing so, they shall choose that the insight is posted on behalf of the organization, not a project.
Stakeholders may submit comments about any project activities. Such comments shall be submitted to admin@carbonregistry.com.
Comments received are shared with the project proponent, and the VVB performing the following validation/verification. Where the VVB has not been contracted, ICR shares comments received with the project proponent, and he shall provide the comments and any actions taken or comments responses to the validation/verification body.
Any comments received shall be addressed at the current or subsequent validation or verification unless ICR determines that an assessment of conformity is required, as described in section 9 above.
Version | Date | Comment |
2.0 | 11.8.2021 | Initial version under version 2.0. |
3.0 | 6.1.2022 | Main changes:
|
4.0 | 14.10.2022 | Alignment with revision of ICR requirements document and ICR methodology requirements in October 2022. |
4.1 | 28.2.2023 | Update due to new platform |
5.0 | 6.2.2023 | Alignment with of ICR requirement document v.5.0 and ICR validation and verification specifications v1.0. Better alignment with ICR registry platform, processes to address reversal events and non-performance. |
VVBs are also identified specifically but identification is administered by the ICR. ↑
Temporary Organizational account may be created during retirements or transfers of ICCs, see section 5.1.2. ↑
Users may also be invited to join projects, see further in section 3 and in the ICR user guide. ↑
NOTE: Authorized representatives may be others than defined as stakeholders to the organization ↑
Note that the draft rationale does not have to include evidence of conformity at this stage and does not need to be publicly available. ↑
Private documentation and confidential information are never published on-chain. ↑
Projects may complete validation and verification jointly if they have been implemented completed monitoring for a monitoring period and completed a project design description and monitoring report. ↑
Information stored on-chain can‘t be removed. No private data or confidential information are disclosed on-chain. ↑
Minted ICCs are only eligible for delivery to the project proponent’s account. ↑
Deposits to adjustment accounts are always from the issuance of ICCs, e.g. if a project proponent issues 50% of estimated mitigation outcomes, he must deposit 2% of the issuance, i.e. 2%*50%=0,1% of the total validated GHG emission mitigation. ↑
Additional credits can be added to each vintage based on findings in monitoring reports and verification by VVB. ↑
Validation and verification can be reported in a validation and verification report. ↑
For example: Verification report confirms 100.000 t CO2-e of GHG emission mitigations. 100.000 ICCs are issued and delivered to ICR holding account but the proponent only requests 10.000 ICCs delivered to its account. The proponent is invoiced for issuance 10.000 * Ex-post issuance fee at issuance event. ↑
When performing joint validation and verification, the project needs to be pre-registered. ↑
