Version history

Version history and changes to the Rainbow Procedures Manual

👉 See Archived Rainbow Standard Documents for full versions of previous documents

Change log for Procedures Manual V3.0

Replace V2.2 with V3.0 November 2025, linked with Standard Rules V7 release

Public Consultation: November 2025

• General

  • Update and rename Teams and stakeholders section with current governance structure

  • Remove Provisional Credits, continuous issuance, and ex-ante validation

  • Update Credit Status types and definitions to align with new procedures

  • New requirements for creation of Rainbow Annual Report, with specific content

• Project certification

  • Methodologies define the crediting period duration

  • Methodologies define whether projects must update and comply with revised versions of methodologies

  • Non-conformities procedure for enforcement, consequences, and remediation procedures for project non-conformities

• Project documentation

  • Define project documentation that must be made publicly available

  • Create procedure for requesting non-publicly accessible project information

• New "Registry" section

  • Outlines organization and user types, user requirements

  • New IT Security standards, audit, and incident procedure

  • Revise credit pool block definition

• Minimum requirements for various documents

  • PDDs, methodologies, monitoring plans, audit reports, compliance certificates

• Cancelation and compensation

  • Procedure for compensation if there are insufficient buffer pool credits

  • Define avoidable and unavoidable reversals, and corresponding buffer pool replacement liability

• VVBs

  • Non-conformities for projects

  • Move Requirements for Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs) file into VVB section of Procedures Manual

  • New VVB oversight requirements on training, rotation/sequential audits, qualifications/accreditation, trainings, and sanctions

  • Updated VVB performance review procedure

  • Detailed requirements for Audit Plan and Audit Report

Post-Public Consultation: January 2026

• VVBs

  • VVB must be ETS approved to audit CRCF projects

  • Created procedures for issuing Certificate of compliance, for CRCF projects

  • Specify that if a VVB is accredited using ISO 17029 or EN ISO/IEC 17029, they must have scope of application related to GHG emissions

  • Revise VVB eligibility to be based on employed individual auditor expertise and years of experience, not based on the VVB organization

• Other

  • Rename Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to Expert Community, and appointments now made by the Science Team

  • Added requirement for a second check by a Certification Team member in RCC issuance and cancelation procedure, to reflect current practice

  • Strengthened KYC procedures requiring certificate of incorporation/registration

  • Specified possibility for Project Developers to use past site audits, if they are equivalent to and meet the current requirements

  • Specified that when projects deregister, the crediting period is shortened to reflect the date when they are no longer eligible to issue credits

  • Created documentation management system requirements

Change log for Procedures Manual V2.2

Replace V2.1 with V2.2 October 2024, linked with Standard Rules V6.2 release

• Replace PDD and Project Design Document with PDD and Project Design document

• New ABC policy

• Replace some instances of Verification Report with Monitoring Report, harmonized

• Create procedures for

  • Erroneous issuance cancelation

  • Discontinuing a methodology

  • Renewing crediting periods

• Introduce continuous issuance procedure and eligibility criteria

• Publish current Methodology Creation Mandates

• Minimum requirements for PDDs

• Clarify Project status throughout certification procedure

Change log for Procedures Manual V2.1

Replace V2.0 with V2.1 May 2024

Terminology changes, reflected in the Glossary (notably discount factor and buffer pool). Clearer performance criteria for VVBs, including timeliness, accuracy, and communication metrics. Clarifications regarding compliance with updates to Rainbow Standards or methodologies.

Change log for Procedures Manual V2.0

Replace V1.0 with V2.0 February 2024

More detailed/new procedures related to site registration, VVB protocols, site audits (remote and in-person), methodology creation/revision, RCC management section on provision pools, over/under achievement and reversal/cancelation