Appendix

Minimum requirements for documentation

Minimum requirements for the PDD

PDDs shall contain, at a minimum, the following information:

General and scope description

• Non-technical description of the project operations, scope, Project Developer, location, and other relevant actors

• Legal ownership and contact information of the Project Developer

• If using a registration partner or a group of Project Developers, a description of if and how advisory services are provided to Project Developers

• Technical description of the technology and project operations

• Specific location of the project, including and/or GPS coordinates of the mitigation activity

• Compliance with any accreditations beyond Rainbow certification (e.g. CRCF, ICVCM..)

• Start date of the project, and start and end dates of the crediting period

• Monitoring Plan with parameters to be monitored

• Site registration

Eligibility, principles and requirements

• Justification that the project meets all Principles and requirements described in the Rainbow Standard Rules, and the chosen methodology

• Stakeholders identified and outcomes of the stakeholder consultation

• Assessment of environmental and social risks, and demonstration of sustainability

• Project specific buffer pool contribution (if issuing removal RCCs)

GHG quantification

• Source for GWP100 values (IPCC AR6 or other IPCC version)

• Information on how the methodology was applied for the purpose of

  • determining the baseline,

  • demonstrating additionality and

  • quantifying GHG emission reductions or removals, including but not limited to assumptions, data sources, and emission sources/sinks, that are not already defined at the methodology level

• Project-specific uncertainty assessment and discount factor

• Future projections throughout the crediting period including:

  • Operational, production, delivery information

  • Expected total gross GHG emissions, carbon removals, and avoidance

  • Expected total net GHG emissions, carbon removals, and avoidance (after applying the discount factor and buffer pool contribution)

  PDDs shall be made publicly available on the Rainbow Registry upon completing Validation. See the Registry and documentation section for further instructions on publicly available documentation.

Minimum requirements for a methodology

Scope/general

• Eligible technologies and activities, description of the practices and processes covered

• Scope/delineation of a project (e.g. number of sites can be included in one project)

• Minimum requirements for a monitoring plan

• Maximum duration of the crediting period

• Maximum duration of the monitoring period/frequency of credit issuance

• Glossary with definitions of technical terms

• Requirements for project compliance with methodology revisions

• Requirements for site audits to be on-site or remote

Baseline scenario

• Justification of the pre-defined/standardized baseline scenario, or guidance for defining an activity-specific baseline scenario

• Frequency of updating the baseline scenario

Principles and requirements

• Any standardized calculations for co-benefits

• Durability (for removal RCCs)

  • durability threshold, in years

  • technology/methodology level reversal risk assessment

  • post-crediting monitoring requirements for reversals

  • liability and compensation requirements

  • minimum buffer pool contribution (if higher than the Standard default of 2%)

• Technology/methodology-specific leakage assessment and if applicable, further requirements

• Reversal and ESDNH Risk assessment template

GHG reduction quantification

• Assumptions

• Secondary data sources

• Description of processes, GHG sinks, and GHG sources to include in the project and baseline scenario

• Uncertainty assessment and minimum discount factor

• Approaches to account for uncertainties in a conservative matter

• All equations and rules needed to calculate, where relevant in the applicable methodology:

  • project and baseline induced emissions

  • project and baseline removals,

  • LULUCF soil emissions,

  • agricultural soil emissions, and

  • total GHGs avoided and/or removed

Minimum requirements for the Rainbow Annual Report

The Annual Report shall contain the following minimum information:

• List of major and critical non-conformities by Project Developers and VVBs, detailing the projects and monitoring periods concerned, the nature of the non-conformity and the outcome

  • the number and description of cases where fraud has been identified including an action plan for how to solve any complaint raised or non-conformity identified

• Overview of trainings, technical workshops, resources, or initiatives Rainbow provided to VVBs, to improve the overall certification process; improve the qualification and independence of VVBs; and facilitate the exchange of experience, knowledge and best practices.

• Overview of the stakeholder involvement in decision-making and Rainbow's response to their contributions

• Summary of complaints received and any remedial measures or changes to the governance system necessary as part of the internal monitoring

• Criteria and process for the approval of VVBs.

Minimum requirements for Audit Reports

Summary of the Audit Report

Project Developer information:

• Contact information (name and address);

• Geographical locations of the activity, including longitude and latitude coordinates;

• Scope of the certification and relevant certification methodology applied;

• Reference number of the PDD and Monitoring Plan.

• a statement that the Project Developer is responsible for the fair presentation of the PDD in accordance with the criteria;

Project information:

• Expected (for validation audit), verified (for verification audit) total amounts of carbon removals, and of associated greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the project;

• Expected (for validation audit), verified (for verification audit) amount of RCCs with the relevant vintage and durability resulting from the project;

• Sustainability co-benefits associated with the project.

VVB information

• Contact information (name and address) and logo;

• Composition of the audit team;

• National accreditation body and scope and date of accreditation, or national recognition authority and scope and date of recognition.

• a statement that the Auditor is responsible for expressing an opinion on the PDD based on the Validation/Verification;

• the Auditor’s location;

Information on the audit process

• Date/s of the audit;

• Audit itinerary and duration (split by duration spent on-site and remotely – where relevant);

• Standard Rules version and Methodology version used for the audit;

• Sites audited;

• Audit method (risk assessment and sampling basis, stakeholder consultation);

• a description of the evidence-gathering procedures used to assess the PDD;

• Certification of other voluntary schemes or standards;

• reference to the Monitoring Plan and verification scope;

• GHG data type.

Information on audit results

• Place and date of issuance of the audit report;

• One of the following outcomes of the audit:

  • confirmation of compliance to a reasonable Level of Assurance with Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 and applicable certification methodology;

  • list of non-conformities identified with applicable timeline for their remediation.

• the Lead Auditor’s signature.

Minimum requirements for Certificate of Compliance

Project information:

• Name of the project and Unique registry ID;

• Description of the project mitigation activity;

• Type of RCCs issued (removal and/or avoidance);

• Name and contact details of the Project Developer;

• Location of the activity, including the geographically explicit location of the activity boundaries;

• Duration of the crediting period, including the start date and end date;

Certification information

• Name, address and logo of the third-party VVB;

• Unique number or code of the certificate of compliance;

• Place, date of issuance and validity period of the certificate of compliance;

• Reference to the applicable methodology;

Claim

• Net project carbon benefit in tCO₂eq, corresponding to the number of RCCs to issue, per category:

  • Net removals, for each durability category

  • Net reductions or avoidance

• Baseline removals and induced emissions;

• Project removals and induced emissions;

• Project induced emissions broken down into direct and indirect emissions;

• Any sustainability co-benefits claimed;

• Quantity and serial numbers of certified RCCs;

• Quantification of uncertainties in the quantification of carbon removals and induced emissions, and the resulting discount factor applied;

Sustainability

• Duration of the monitoring period of the activity;

• Amount of biomass used and proof of its compliance with the requirements;

• Buffer pool contribution

• Other type of liability mechanism, the liable natural or legal person;

• Reference to any other international or national certification, including the unique number or code of the certificate of compliance;