Does Plan Vivo require corresponding adjustments? Expand As national legislation and implementation aimed at operationalising Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is an ongoing process in many countries in which Plan Vivo projects operate, Plan Vivo does not currently require corresponding adjustments as a default. Plan Vivo reviews national regulatory frameworks on a case-by-case basis. If a country requires corresponding adjustments, Plan Vivo will adhere to national legislation and either label or retire PVCs on national registries, when they’re available.
How are risks to double counting minimised? Expand All PVCs generated are allocated their own serial number and are listed on the Plan Vivo Registry. Each PVC can only be retired once and be allocated one beneficial owner. The registry is managed by a third party, IHS Markit (a part of S&P Global). Projects must also take steps to identify and prevent overlap with other GHG reducing projects or national, jurisdictional, or sub-national programmes, so prevent carbon benefits being claimed under multiple projects and/or programmes. Finally, Plan Vivo is currently working with selected meta registry developers to ensure that PVCs are represented in this emerging space that should help better identify potential areas over credit and claims overlap. The Standard will adapt and evolve over time to continue to minimise risks to double counting.
How are risks to leakage minimised? Expand Project coordinators must work directly with representatives of all local stakeholders in the development of project interventions and in defining the project logic. This project logic must include risk mitigation measures for leakage. All methodologies must include a mechanism for account for the expected leakage impact and make deductions on the carbon benefits accordingly. In addition to this, where possible, leakage risk mitigation measures must be implemented to reduce the potential for leakage. These are then reviewed by the Technical Review Panel (TRP), and Validation and Verification Body (VVB) or Independent Expert (IE) (depending on the review process taken). The Standard will adapt and evolve over time to continue to minimise risks to leakage.
How are risks to permanence minimised? Expand Project coordinators must work directly with representatives of all local stakeholders in the development of project interventions and in defining the project logic. This method of design is built into several areas of Plan Vivo and encourages the creation of project interventions that produce long-term benefits for project participants, thereby minimising the incentives for reversals of carbon benefits. The project logic must also include risk mitigation measures for reversals, and risks to the maintenance of the carbon benefits for a period of at least 50-years must be identified and significant risks must be mitigated. These are identified through a risk assessment which is then reviewed by the Secretariat, Technical Review Panel (TRP), and Validation and Verification Body (VVB) or Independent Expert (IE) (depending on the review process taken). These risks must be reassessed every 10 years throughout the project period. Finally, projects must contribute 20% of their carbon benefits to the risk buffer. This is a pool of vPVCs that are left unsold as insurance against the risk of reversal of carbon benefits. For more information on the scenarios in which the risk buffer can be accessed, please see the Procedures Manual on our PV Climate documentation page. The Standard will adapt and evolve over time to continue to minimise risks to permanence.
How do projects safeguard against environmental or social harm? Expand The Project Requirements includes a section for environmental and social risk management. Furthermore, Plan Vivo requires all projects to comply with the Environmental and Social Risk Management Procedures which requires projects to complete a screening of potential environmental and social risks at PIN and PDD stage. It also requires them to design an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) based on avoiding, minimising, mitigating or managing risks.
How is additionality ensured? Expand All methodologies must include procedures for assessing the additionality of the project interventions. In addition to this, projects must complete a barrier analysis as part of their Project Design Document (PDD). These assessments are reviewed by the Secretariat, Technical Review Panel (TRP), and Validation and Verification Body (VVB) or Independent Expert (IE) (depending on the review process taken) to ensure that they align with the project’s described baseline scenario and project logic, and align with what is visible in the project area. Additionality must be reassessed by projects every 10 years throughout the project period. The Standard will adapt and evolve over time to continue to minimise risks to additionality.
Where can i buy PVCs? Expand PVCs can either be purchased directly from projects, or through intermediary organisations (resellers) specialising in advising private sector entities on how to minimise and compensate for their carbon footprint. Entities wishing to purchase PVCs who may want further information on projects, for example regarding their location, activities, co-benefits, or relevant contact details are welcome to contact the Plan Vivo Secretariat. The Plan Vivo website includes information about eligible resellers.