Version:  v. 1.0, February 16, 2023

Contact: For questions, suggestions, comments, and troubleshooting please use the Carbon Markets CoP channel on Microsoft Teams or by email (CarbonMarketsCommunityofPractice@tnc.org).

Purpose:  The purpose of this tool is to provide a general idea of carbon credits to be generated by ARR projects applying to the VCS program (Verified Carbon Standard) under Verra. This should be used for PIN and/or feasibility stages. The accuracy of these projections is highly dependent on the input data, therefore the project manager should consider this information carefully.

Disclaimer:  This tool was built upon information published in the first version (1.0, 17 December 2021) of the methodology VMXXX "Methodology for Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation Projects". This methodology is still under development, therefore it is likely that some changes will be applied. The tool also incorporated some information obtained through informal communications with the team developing the methodology, being this the most up to date information at the time of this first version.

General Instructions:  In the tab "Removals" the user should fill out the fields in column "D - Applicable Value" colored in Orange. Also, the user should input the expected planting area by year in column "H - ARR area by year". Other cells in column "D" will be auto-calculated based on the input values.

Parameters Instructions:  An exception may be applied to cell "D10 - Annual carbon increment" - while this will be calculated based on cells "D4 - Average Carbon Stock of forest Restorated or reforestation" and "D5 - Project lifetime", the user may choose to directly input the value of cell "D10" and leave "D4" and "D5" blank. That is applicable when the average value of biomass increases by year and by hectare is already known, or when a Growth model is available. In this case it is important to transform the data to carbon, and include the value as tons of Co2 equivalent - tCO2eq/ha.

There are 3 columns with information about the area. In column "H - ARR area by year" the user should input how much area will be planted each year. If unknown, the user may add it all in the first year. The column "I - Cumulative ARR area" will be auto-populated and provide information about how much area is implemented at a certain time (project year). Colum "J - Crediting area" should be populated by the user in two different ways: a) copy the same values as column "I" by considering that the forest will continue growing longer than the project crediting, and the values of carbon increment still apply; b) Consider each planted area for only a certain number of years, based on the time it will take for the forest to stabilize and cease generating carbon credits through removals. In the example data, the time would be 20 years, so after one planted area reaches 20 years, it is no longer accounted for in the crediting area anymore, therefore it is excluded from the calculations in the following years. This calculation can be done manually at this point, and it may be automated in the next versions.

The three factors included in cells "D7 - Performance Benchmark (PB)", "D8 - Uncertainty (UNC)" and "D9 - Leakage Emissions (LK)" are specific to the new VMXXX, and for some of those there is still some uncertainty.

The performance benchmark (PB) will be calculated by the comparison of plots in the project and in control areas. Guidance for this calculation is under development, and at this stage, it can be considered as zero (considering that no area outside the project would regenerate), or a more conservative value of 10%. At this point, the Global Carbon Markets team is working on developing a tool to calculate the PB and this will be launched in the future.

The Leakage Emissions (LK) should be calculated as described in the "Module for Estimating Leakage from ARR Activities", which is also under approval within VMXXX. The Global Carbon Markets team is also working on developing a tool to calculate the LK and this will be launched in the future.

The uncertainty should be calculated according to the instructions provided in VMXXX. A minimum of 10% should be used in ex-ante estimations, or higher for more conservative.

Other cells should be filled based on the instructions on the "Removals" tab.