Verra Launches Scope 3 Standard Program: Version 1 and What’s Next

Verra’s new Scope 3 Standard introduces a project-level framework for measuring, verifying and linking value chain emission reductions and removals to corporate Scope 3 reporting. Its rollout is phased, with further reporting functionality planned beyond the initial Version 1 release.

On 15 September 2026, Verra launched version 1 of its Scope 3 Standard (S3S) Program, a voluntary certification programme for projects that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or remove carbon dioxide within value chains.

The programme provides a framework for quantifying and certifying GHG outcomes from value chain projects, with S3Us designed for use in corporate Scope 3 emissions reporting.

The Scope 3 Standard v1.0 is the programme’s core requirements document. It sets the framework for developing, quantifying and verifying S3S projects. Separate S3S Program Stakeholder Engagement and Safeguards Requirements, v1.0 cover stakeholder engagement and the programme’s environmental, social and governance safeguards.

What is Available Now

The S3S Program is being rolled out in stages. The initial release opens pipeline listing on the Verra Registry for projects using one of two approved methodologies. Once listed, a project enters a 30-day public comment period.

For now, the programme supports pipeline listing only. Validation, registration, verification and S3U issuance will be introduced through subsequent Version 1 releases. Version 2 will introduce company-level right-to-report and reportable units.

Supporting infrastructure is still under development. The S3S Program Attribution and Distribution Tool, which will perform product attribution and distribution calculations in the Verra Project Hub, is listed by Verra as forthcoming.

Who Can Develop an S3S Project

Each S3S project has one project proponent. This may be the originator of an impacted product, such as a manufacturer; a company reporting against Scope 3 targets; or another entity such as a specialist project developer, government entity or financial institution.

The project proponent must demonstrate the right to operate the project and the right to GHG outcomes generated by it. The Standard requires evidence of a valid and non-conflicting legal basis for those rights, which may derive from legislation, permits, contracts, land or resource rights, or other enforceable instruments.

How an S3S Project Works

An S3S project implements technologies or measures that affect the emissions footprint of a commercial good or service. The Standard calls this an impacted product.

The product must be directly affected by project activities and intended for commercial sale. Products elsewhere in the supply chain are not automatically impacted products. Verra gives the example of a dairy livestock project using feed additives: the impacted product would be raw milk, not derivative products such as cheese or yoghurt.

Projects must use an approved S3S methodology and generate GHG outcomes attributable to an impacted product. Their activity start date must generally be on or after 1 January 2015; the Standard provides an exception for projects registered with the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program.

Impacted products are organised into impacted product groups. Each group is defined by a United Nations Statistics Division Central Product Classification (UNSD CPC) code, a production period and a production location based on relevant project instances.

The programme then uses two calculations. Attribution determines the amount of impacted product associated with one tonne of CO₂e of GHG outcome. Distribution allocates GHG outcomes among impacted product groups. Both calculations are proportional and use a common product metric.

How Project Outcomes Become Reportable

An S3U is the programme’s unit for project-level GHG outcomes. One S3U corresponds to one tonne of CO₂e reduced or removed compared with the project’s baseline scenario. When issuance becomes available in a subsequent Version 1 release, Verra will issue S3Us to project proponents. Each S3U will also include information about the outcome it represents, such as the impacted product and its amount, baseline type, reversal risk and leakage.

Leakage is reported separately as a unit attribute and is not deducted from the project’s GHG outcomes.

Version 2 will introduce reportable S3Us, with the final name still to be confirmed. These units will be based on S3Us already issued for a project and linked to a specific reporting company. To receive them, the company will need a verified right-to-report, demonstrating a value chain connection to the impacted product. Verra also plans measures to limit free-rider risks. Reportable S3Us will not be transferable between companies.

How S3S Could Be Integrated into Corporate Scope 3 Reporting

Verra describes two approaches for integrating S3S project information into corporate GHG reporting.

Under substitution integration, project-specific emissions data replace part of a generic emission factor for the impacted product. Under subtraction integration, quantified project reductions are subtracted from a generic emission factor and may be reported alongside the inventory without fully replacing the underlying factor.

S3S does not replace the company-level accounting framework. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) provides company-level accounting standards and guidance, while the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) sets science-based criteria for corporate emissions targets. Whether and how S3S integration approaches can be applied in corporate reporting depends on the accounting and reporting requirements a company follows. Verra notes that the treatment of different accounting methods remains under discussion across relevant standards and initiatives.

Co-claiming and Double Issuance

Under Version 2, Verra plans to enable co-claiming across different tiers of a value chain. Companies at different tiers may claim the same emission reductions or removals in their Scope 3 reporting. Verra treats this form of co-claiming as permissible and distinguishes it from double counting.

Within one supply-chain tier, reportable units cannot exceed the S3Us issued for the project. A company’s allocation is also limited by the amount of impacted product it can demonstrate that it sources. Version 2 will add safeguards against over-issuance.

Double issuance, by contrast, is prohibited. A project cannot seek S3Us and another GHG instrument for the same GHG outcome, and monitoring periods under different systems cannot overlap.

Once S3S registration is enabled, a project may be registered under both S3S and the VCS if it meets both programmes’ requirements. However, it can only be active and issue units under one programme at a time. Conversion between Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) and S3Us is not permitted.

Regulatory Surplus, Additionality and Assurance

Regulatory surplus is required, while additionality is optional. Project proponents must demonstrate that the project activity meets the Standard’s regulatory surplus requirements, which consider whether the activity is mandated by law or regulation. Additionality is assessed separately: projects that demonstrate their GHG outcomes would not have occurred without emissions-abatement incentives receive an “additional” label. Unlike S3S, the VCS requires additionality.

Once validation and verification are enabled, independent validation/verification bodies (VVBs) will assess S3S projects. Validation uses limited assurance, while the first monitoring period within each issuing period requires full-scope verification at reasonable assurance.

Current and Forthcoming Methodologies

S3S projects must use an approved methodology, which sets the rules for quantifying GHG outcomes for a specific type of project activity.

Two methodologies are currently available: S3S-VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management, v1.0, covering emission reductions and soil organic carbon removals from improved agricultural land management, and S3S-VM0043 Methodology for CO₂ Utilization in Concrete Production, v1.0, covering the use of CO₂ in concrete production. Both are adaptations of VCS methodologies.

Verra is also adapting three additional methodologies:

• S3S-VM0041 Methodology for the Reduction of Enteric Methane Emissions from Ruminants through the Use of Feed Ingredients, v1.0
• S3S-VM0045 Improved Forest Management Using Dynamic Matched Baselines from National Forest Inventories, v1.0
• S3S-VM0047 Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation, v1.0