Verra and SustainCERT Announce Strategic Scope 3 Partnership at Climate Week NYC 2024
New York, September 25, 2024 - Today, SustainCERT, the leading climate impact verification organization, and Verra, announced the signing of a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to accelerate credible corporate scope 3 action. The collaboration will leverage Verra's Scope 3 Standard (S3S) Program and SustainCERT's auditing capabilities and leading work on enabling companies to credibly report, track, and co-claim impact of interventions to significantly scale Scope 3 action.
Scope 3 emissions often represent the majority of a company’s emissions and are therefore critical to reduce. However, the lack of clarity around the regulatory landscape and limited commercial incentives to invest in value chain decarbonization are among the key challenges preventing corporates from taking action at scale.
Under the agreement, the partners will collaborate to overcome barriers to scale credible corporate scope 3 action. Specifically, Verra will rely on its concepts and approaches developed through the Verra Scope 3 Initiative, while SustainCERT will contribute with key innovations developed since the launch of its value chain services.
The key components of the MOU include:
- Verra and SustainCERT will collaborate on standardizing terminology and definitions and provide clarity for corporates to take action
- Verra and SustainCERT will work together on communications to build momentum and trust for credible Scope 3 climate action
- Verra and SustainCERT will create an interface between Verra’s Registry and SustainCERT’s VIVID Platform and unlock inventory claims in line with international standards.
“It’s clear that despite the best intentions of many businesses, the global framework to incentivize action is not up to the task. Companies need clearer guidance, meaningful regulations, and help in making the business case for a drastic reduction in emissions." “We are honored to deepen our partnership with Verra and contribute with the insights and expertise we developed through our Scope 3 work over the years. This is a big step towards scaling Scope 3 action and fostering collaboration among corporates and value chain partners, to unlock the scale necessary for meaningful change.”
Marion Verles, CEO, SustainCERT
“It is critical we find a way to unlock that investment together, because otherwise, we’re seeing the result: companies are delaying or withdrawing investments in climate action. Our commitment to aligning with leading organizations in the corporate accounting and reporting ecosystem remains. By working together, we can accelerate collective climate action and achieve more significant results for people and the planet.”
Mandy Rambharos, CEO, Verra
SustainCERT has been supporting companies in the Food & Agriculture and Apparel sectors to credibly report on their decarbonization efforts by verifying the impact of their value chain interventions. The company has also been focused on developing solutions that foster collaboration among partners across the value chain and allow for the co-financing of interventions.
For the last 2.5 years, Verra has been researching, designing, and developing the Scope 3 Standard Program. It will unlock immediate and large-scale investment in climate action by creating an actionable pathway for companies to certify value chain interventions and claim those units against public targets. By bringing credibility and transparency to value chain accounting, there is an opportunity to de-risk investment in supply chain climate action and scale interventions across shared supply chain emissions. If companies cannot see a way to achieving their SBTs there is a real risk that companies renege on their commitments at the expense of significant climate action and achievement of net-zero goals – the S3S Program is an integral component to solving this challenge.
About SustainCERT
SustainCERT is a leading verifier of climate impact, offering validation and verification services for carbon markets and value chains. Combining climate expertise with advanced digital verification technology, SustainCERT ensures credible climate action. Founded in 2018 by Gold Standard, SustainCERT operates independently and aligns with key international sustainability frameworks like the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
About Verra
Verra is a global leader helping to tackle the world’s most intractable environmental and social challenges. As a mission-driven nonprofit organization, Verra is committed to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect natural resources by working with the private and public sectors. We support climate action and sustainable development with standards, tools, and programs that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.