How to develop a VM0047 ARR project!
Are you a reforestation project developer looking to get registered as a carbon project? Are you an investor or corporate offtaker who wants to more deeply understand the carbon development process and the common failure points of projects that you’re investing in?
Earthshot supports project proponents through a smooth process of registration and investment, and this mini training will help you to understand how to best navigate the complex regulatory requirements of the new Verra Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation (ARR VM0047) methodology.
Three expert members of the Earthshot team will be presenting some of our lessons learned from getting the first validated VM0047 ARR project.
What you will learn:
What is different about VM0047 from previous methodologies?
What are common pitfalls in project design and compliance?
What do I need to do now to avoid delays during the audit and review process?
Can I do compliance in-house? If so, what skillsets do I need on my team?
You will also have the opportunity to ask questions to our team of experts related to science, compliance, and social safeguards. While we won’t be covering detailed technical workflows related to performance benchmarking, leakage emissions, non-permanence risk assessment, and other computations, if there’s enough interest among participants we can schedule technical follow ups.
Polly Thornton - Earthshot ARR Science Team
Polly Thornton is an eminent figure in the field of statistical and process-based ecosystem modeling with over 30 years of experience in this field. As a Project Scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, her work has significantly contributed to our understanding of ecosystems and their interaction with the environment. She served as a contributing author and chapter scientist for the IPCC Working Group II Sixth Assessment Report, underscoring her respected status in the scientific community. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the University of Idaho.
Cecilia Simon-Diaz - Earthshot Compliance Lead
Ceci specializes in Nature-based Solutions projects, bringing over 15 years of experience in the carbon market. She served as the Program Manager of Natural Climate Solutions at Verra, where she was instrumental in leading project reviews for VCS and CCB, enhancing certification processes, contributing to developing and approving methodologies in the VCS Program, and supporting revisions to the Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ framework. Before joining Verra, Ceci spent a decade with the Climate Action Reserve, where she played a pivotal role in developing and implementing the Mexico Forest Protocol. Additionally, Ceci’s leadership extended to Pronatura, Mexico, where she headed the Climate Change Program, demonstrating a longstanding commitment to environmental sustainability and climate action.
Emily Tompkins - Earthshot Social Safeguards Specialist
Emily brings over 15 years of experience in carbon project development with a focus on participatory stakeholder engagement and social safeguards. With 10 years of experience in international development, she brings a depth of experience with community and organizational change projects. She is a facilitator and designer of multi-stakeholder initiatives, including stakeholder strategies for NBS projects. Her approach integrates participatory process into FPIC, project design and implementation to ensure social safeguards are met—if not exceeded–and to build a strong foundation of trust, consensus, and ownership from the ground-up for durable climate, biodiversity and community impacts. She was previously the CEO of Forest Futures, an NBS project developer operating in Brazil, as well as partner at Anthrotect, where she was social technical lead to verify the world’s first VCS/CCB Gold REDD+ project with a collective community of Afro-descendent landowners.