Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard

Transcription

1 Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard A flexible framework for assessing and reporting on the sustainable development benefits of project-based activities, helping unlock new sources of finance to support and scale up high-impact ventures It can be challenging to consistently and transparently assess and communicate the economic, social and environmental impacts of projects supported by companies, NGOs, investors, development finance institutions (DFIs) and other stakeholders. To address this need, VCS is planning to develop the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta). SD VISta is an innovative and flexible new standards framework that would enable projects to robustly measure, report and verify (MRV) their sustainable development contributions. It would support credible claims and, where appropriate, the creation of new environmental and social assets that could be monetized or otherwise valued. The standard would assess sustainable development impacts as measured across two primary dimensions: meeting essential human needs and the maintenance of natural capital, including ecosystem services, for current and future generations. For each of these dimensions, project proponents would need to identify the withoutproject scenario, the project s envisioned or realized impacts, any off-site impacts and a plan for impact monitoring. SD VISta would set out clear rules for establishing user-defined claims based on the credible assessment of the metrics most appropriate to individual projects. In addition, VCS industry-leading registry platform would enable the generation and trading of associated environmental and social assets (e.g. water units, health benefits, adaptation credits and biodiversity/high Conservation Value offsets) for use in existing and emerging markets. Three additional pathways would be available for projects also generating measurable climate benefits. To make a general claim about contributions to mitigating climate change, the project proponent would complete the Climate Section of the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS). SD VISta projects interested in going further and generating a Verified Carbon Unit (VCU) that could be used as a carbon offset would be verified using the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). 1 Alternatively, some projects may prefer to generate a carbon credit using another GHG accounting framework (e.g. Gold Standard or American Carbon Registry). The structure of SD VISta is illustrated in Figure 1. 1 VCUs could apply the SD VISta label to make it clear that the carbon asset came from a project that also generated measurable sustainable development benefits. Verified Carbon Standard, 24 August

2 Figure 1. Basic structure of SD VISta. Requirements are shown in rectangular boxes, claims in ovals and assets in hexagons. Optional pathways are indicated by dashed lines. To be certified to SD VISta, projects would need to meet all the requirements covering meeting essential human needs, maintenance of natural capital and ecosystem services and project design. The SD VISta Value Proposition Demand for applying the SD VISta framework could come from companies, investors, DFIs, donors and other actors seeking to assess the social, environmental and economic impacts of projects they support. SD VISta would: Provide a flexible framework for project developers and marketers to define, and consistently report on, the most relevant and valuable project outcomes, and link those to investors, buyers and other key stakeholders Facilitate private-sector engagement and alignment of project actions and reporting with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets at the national or global levels Provide an independent, credible, transparent means for companies to demonstrate achievement of their business and corporate social responsibility goals, such as meeting zero-net deforestation commitments, supporting women and children, and improving livelihoods, health and access to water Help DFIs and impact investors address potential environmental and social risks, and maximize target outcomes from their sustainable development project portfolios, and link those to national and regional sustainable development priorities Unlock new sources of finance and drive results-based payments to high-performing projects, supporting their proof of concept, scaling-up and replication Development of SD VISta would be advanced through a transparent and rigorous multi-stakeholder process involving strong representation from the Global South, and including project developers, corporates, investors, Verified Carbon Standard, 24 August

3 civil society and governments. VCS s intention is to develop an operational framework as quickly as possible (e.g. within the first year), and spend an additional one to two years piloting and further refining and proving the standard through extensive consultation and project application. Verified Carbon Standard, 24 August

4 Annex 1. Example Uses of SD VISta Verification to SD VISta would enable projects to credibly demonstrate their contribution to sustainable development. In addition, and if desired, project proponents could make claims on individual elements of sustainable development and potentially generate, register and transact related social and environmental assets. Project proponents would also have the option to produce a climate claim or asset. In each of the examples in the table below, projects have met all of the requirements of the basic components of SD VISta (meeting essential human needs and maintenance of natural capital and ecosystem services and project design). The projects in this table have also elected to define additional claims and/or assets. Example Project Activity User-defined SD Claim(s) User-defined SD Asset(s) Climate Benefits Claim or Asset Renewable energy in India Number of people with greater access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services (SDG 7.1) Amount by which the share of renewable energy has increased in the energy mix (SDG 7.2) Renewable energy credit (REC)/instrum ent General climate benefits claim, or VCU (if not double counted as REC) VCS-verified cook stove project in Zambia Number of women s hours freed from gathering firewood over long distances at personal risk (SDG 5.4) Averted drudgery hours SD VISta-labeled VCU Ecosystem-based adaptation in Chile Quantified increase in community resilience to climate change (SDG 13.1) Adaptation Benefit Unit 2 N/A VCS and CCBverified afforestation in Kenya Alternative income generated for women as a result of agroforestry activities (SDG 5.5) Area of water-related ecosystems protected and restored (SDG 6.6) W+ unit 3 Units of water provided to downstream users CCB- and SD VIStalabeled VCU Fuel switching in California Employment and health benefits for economically disadvantaged communities (SDGs 8.4, 3.9, 9.4) N/A Climate Section of the CCBS, supporting general climate mitigation benefits claim 2 Under development by the African Development Bank. See 3 As verified against the W+ Standard, which is managed by WOCAN. See Verified Carbon Standard, 24 August

5 Annex 2. SD VISta Background and CCB Linkages Although still in an early stage of development, SD VISta has evolved significantly from its roots in the CCB+ concept. With CCB+, the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) would have been used as the basis for the MRV of user-defined benefits. However, as VCS discussed the proposed framework with potential users, it became clear that demand for MRV of user-defined benefits comes not only from projects that could potentially meet the CCBS, but also from activities outside the land-use sector and from projects that have significant positive impacts on climate, community and/or biodiversity, but not necessarily all three. This indicated that we needed to move beyond the limits of the CCBS to properly respond to these identified needs. Another consideration was that we wanted the new standard to connect with, and take advantage of, the growing interest in the Sustainable Development (SD) Goals and the SD construct more broadly. This meant VCS had to go beyond the community and biodiversity framing of CCBS and instead turn to concepts that we consider to be integral to the definition of sustainable development: meeting essential human needs and the maintenance of natural capital, including biodiversity and ecosystem services, for current and future generations. Projects will need to demonstrate net positive benefits in both of these sections (as well as the project design section) in order to earn certification to SD VISta. Although it replaces the CCB+ concept, SD VISta remains closely linked to the CCBS in form and practice. For example, the CCBS General section would be modified to provide the basis for the SD VISta project design section. The sections regarding meeting essential human needs and maintenance of natural capital and ecosystem services would be underpinned by the flexible approach of the CCBS, tapping user-defined metrics to demonstrate positive impact. We also anticipate SD VISta following the CCBS structure of requiring the withoutproject scenario, the project s envisioned or realized impacts, any off-site impacts, and the monitoring plan. We aim to create a streamlined pathway for projects already using the CCBS to earn certification to SD VISta, by using CCBS outputs and simply addressing any identified gaps between the two standards, which we expect will be few. Dual certification would allow CCB projects access to a broader, more diverse audience and sources of demand/finance. Project proponents (and intermediaries) would have more options for defining and marketing the most relevant project benefits to funders and investors than with CCB alone. Furthermore, SD VISta would support the generation of saleable environmental or social assets, if appropriate and valuable, enabling CCB projects to tap new, emerging markets whether globally or regionally based. Finally, SD VISta supports the various organizational missions of the members of the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance by providing a flexible, robust, global standard to demonstrate how a broad range of project types ecosystem conservation (and related) measures can deliver significant and measurable sustainable development benefits, and help connect these outcomes to donors, investors, credit buyers and other key stakeholders. Verified Carbon Standard, 24 August