Verification process

The project participants in a CDM project engage a designated operational entity (DOE) to verify the data which has been collected by the project participants in accordance with the monitoring plan. That data will be set out in a monitoring report, which must be provided to the DOE engaged to conduct the verification.

The steps involved in verification are set out in 5/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 34, as follows:

In accordance with the provisions on confidentiality in paragraph 27(h) of the annex to decision 17/CP.7, the designated operational entity contracted by the project participants to perform the verification shall make the monitoring report publicly available, and shall:

1. Determine whether the project documentation provided is in accordance with the requirements of the registered project design document and relevant provisions of decision 19/CP.9, the present annex and relevant decisions of the COP/MOP;
2. Conduct on-site inspections, as appropriate, that may comprise, inter alia, a review of performance records, interviews with project participants and local stakeholders, collection of measurements, observation of established practices and testing of the accuracy of monitoring equipment;
3. Determine whether the socio-economic and environmental impacts were monitoring in accordance with the monitoring plan;
4. Determine whether there have been any changes in circumstances within the project boundary that affect legal title to the land or rights of access to the carbon pools;
5. Review the management activities, including harvesting cycles, and the use of sample plots to determine whether the following have been avoided:
   1. A systematic coincidence of verification and peaks in carbon stocks
   2. A major systematic error in data collection
6. If appropriate, use additional data from other sources;
7. Review monitoring results and verify that the monitoring methodologies have been applied correctly and their documentation is complete and transparent;
8. Recommend to the project participants appropriate changes to the monitoring plan;
9. Determine the net anthropogenic greenhouse gases removals by sinks, using monitored or other data referred to in paragraph 34 (a), (b), (f) and (g) above, as appropriate, using calculation procedures as contained in the registered project design document;
10. Identify and inform the project participants of any concerns relating to the conformity of the actual project activity under the CDM and its operation with the registered project design document. Project participants shall address the concerns and supply relevant additional information;
11. Provide a verification report to the project participants, the Parties involved and the Executive Board. The report shall be made publicly available.

Once a DOE has completed the steps above, project participants will most likely engage the DOE to certify the emission reductions achieved during the relevant verification period.

Initial verification

The initial verification of an A/R project can be undertaken at any time.  After this time, verification must be carried out every five years until the end of the crediting period:

The initial verification and certification of an afforestation or reforestation project activity under the CDM may be undertaken at a time selected by the project participants.  Thereafter, verification and certification shall be carried out every five years until the end of the crediting period (5/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 32).

Non-conforming monitoring data

Where it is discovered that monitoring has not been carried out in accordance with the registered monitoring plan, DOEs are required to make the most conservative assumptions theoretically possible when conducting verification:

In conducting verification, when it is discovered that activity levels or non-activity parameters have not been monitored by the project participants in accordance with the registered monitoring plan, the DOE shall make the most conservative assumption theoretically possible in finalising the verification report (EB 26, paragraph 109(b)).

Changing the monitoring period undergoing verification

At EB 41, the Executive Board decided to allow DOEs to request a change in the dates of a monitoring period undergoing verification, provided the change is the result of the corrective action request raised by the DOE during the verification process (EB 41, paragraph 78).