Glossary of Key Terms

Accounting Expression

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

The form in which a GHG-related activity is expressed for reporting or tracking purposes. This guidance includes two accounting expressions: Emission Profiles (EPs), which represent emissions produced per unit of activity, and Emission Reduction/ Removal Units (ERUs), which quantify reductions or removals relative to a baseline.

Source documents

Action

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

Project, investment/financing, production/sale of products, purchase/consumption of products, or other intervention or activity that leads to changes in GHG emissions and removals (without regard to inventory boundary).

Source documents

Activity

Definitions

SBTi CNZS V2.0

An individual source of emissions. The term is used throughout the Corporate Net-Zero Standard to refer to commodities, products, services, and activities, such as cement or steel for category 1 emissions, or the mode of transport (e.g., maritime or aviation) for category 4 emissions (adapted from the GHG Protocol – WRI, WBCSD, 2011). Note: Activities can also be referred to as emissions sources (see IPCC and AIM Platform, 2026).

Source documents

Activity pool

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

The set of emissions sources that may physically serve the reporting entity, but
within which further traceability to the specific physical sources used by reporting entity is not
possible (Brander & Bjørn, 2023). Examples include an upstream supply pool, such as a supply
shed from which companies source a specific commodity, or a downstream activity pool, such
as the electricity grid that powers the products the company brings to market. (SBTi Corporate
Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0 , second consultation draft)

SBTi CNZS V2.0

A shared system of activities that serves the reporting entity, defined at the smallest system boundary within which the specific activity or activities serving the company cannot feasibly be identified. Examples include gas grids (scope 1), electricity grids (scope 2), supply sheds (scope 3), and logistics networks (scope 3) (adapted from Brander & Bjørn, 2023 and the Value Change Initiative, 2025).

VCI Glossary

[From SBTi, CNZS v2.0 Initial Consultation Draft] The set of emissions sources which may physically serve the reporting entity, but within which further traceability to the specific physical sources used by the reporting entity is not possible (Brander & Bjørn, 2023).

Examples include an upstream supply pool, such as a supply shed from which companies source a specific commodity, or a downstream activity pool, such as the electricity grid powering the products that the company brings to market.

Source documents

Additionality

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

1. A criterion often applied to GHG projects stipulating that project-based GHG reductions should only be quantified if the project activity “would not have happened anyway”— i.e., that the project activity (or the same technologies or practices it employs) would not have been implemented in its baseline scenario—and/or that project activity emissions are lower than baseline emissions (GHG Protocol for Project Accounting ).
2. The intervention (e.g., project or activity) reduces emissions or increases removals relative to the amount of emissions or removals that would have occurred without the financial incentives provided by the credit (Land Sector and Removals Standard ; in the context of quality criteria for GHG credits).
3. “Additionality is the extent to which something happens as a result of an intervention that would not have occurred in the absence of that intervention.” (SBTi Glossary).
4. “The outcome would not have occurred without the intervention. This generally means showing that activities are not already financially viable, legally mandated, or fully financed under existing policies.” (SBTi, Corporate Net-Zero Standard version 2.0 , draft, p. 91).
5. “At the time of the decision to implement a mitigation activity, the outcomes of such an activity would not have occurred due to the absence of the incentives created by the carbon related revenues.” (Value Change Initiative)
6. “The GHG emission reductions or removals from the mitigation activity shall be additional, i.e., they would not have occurred in the absence of the incentive created by carbon-credit revenues.” (Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market)
7. “A proposed activity is additional if the recognized policy interventions are deemed to be causing the activity to take place. The occurrence of additionality is determined by assessing whether a proposed activity is distinct from its baseline. A baseline is a prediction of the quantified amount of an input to or output from an activity resulting from the expected future behavior of the actors proposing, and affected by, the proposed activity in the absence of one or more policy interventions, holding all other factors constant (ceteris paribus). The conditions of a baseline are described in a baseline scenario.” (GHG Management Institute)
8. "Additionality, as a concept, describes the relationship between cause and effect. For any cause and effect, the effect can be described as being additional if it would not have occurred in the absence of the cause." (ISO 14064-2)

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

A metric for evaluating whether the emissions reductions or profile associated with an intervention (e.g. certificate purchase) would have occurred absent the intervention. In particular, regulatory additionality assesses whether the activity is already required by and used towards a
regulatory obligation.

VCI Net Zero

[Adapted from the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] At the time of the decision to implement a mitigation activity, the outcomes of such an activity would not have occurred due to the absence of the incentives created by the carbon related revenues.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[Adapted from the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] At the time of the decision to implement a mitigation activity, the outcomes of such an activity would not have occurred due to the absence of the incentives created by the carbon related revenues.

Source documents

Administrative record

Definitions

ISO 22095-2:2026

Documentation or guarantee that warrants unique ownership of the entitlement to claim the consumption or use of specified characteristics at a point in the chain of custody.

ISO 22095-3:2026

Documentation or guarantee that warrants unique ownership of the entitlement to claim the consumption or use of specified characteristics at a point in the chain of custody.

Source documents

Allocation

Definitions

GHG Protocol LSRS

The process of partitioning GHG emissions, removals, or other metrics from a single facility, process, or other system among its various outputs.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

he process of partitioning GHG emissions from a single facility or other system
(e.g., vehicle, business unit, corporation) among its various outputs. (Scope 3 Standard )

VCI Glossary

[Adapted from GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard] The process of assigning the GHG emissions profile of a system (e.g., production unit, quantity of goods) to the various outputs of the system based on physical or economic data specific to the studied sys- tem (including its socio-economic and geographical scales).

VCI Net Zero

[Adapted from GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard] The process of assigning the GHG emissions profile of a system (e.g., production unit, quantity of goods) to the various outputs of the system based on physical or economic data specific to the studied sys- tem (including its socio-economic and geographical scales).

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[Adapted from GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard] The process of assigning the GHG emissions profile of a system (e.g., production unit, quantity of goods) to the various outputs of the system based on physical or economic data specific to the studied sys- tem (including its socio-economic and geographical scales).

Verra & SustainCERT

The act of assigning, associating, par titioning or distributing GHG data
(e.g., emissions, reductions) at a specific reference scale (process, product, corporate, country).

In terms of corporate [ISEAL/VCI GHGRS, 2022]: Allocation refers to how ‘cer tificates’ are assigned to specific buyers (of the commodity) and how this affects the attributed emissions data.
In terms of products [WRI, 2013:87]: Allocation is the process of par titioning GHG emissions from a single facility or other system (e.g., activity, vehicle, production line, business unit) among its various outputs.

WBCSD Avoided Emissions

Partitioning the total avoided emissions of a solution across the different value chain actors involved in
the solution.

Source documents

Assignment of sustainability characteristics

Definitions

ISCC EU 203

The combination of both the traceability and chain of custody requirements ensure that the physical flow of materials can be traced back and forth throughout the supply chain, which guarantees the integrity of sustainability statements. The transfer of sustainability characteristics along the supply chain must always be accompanied by a physical transfer of material. This also ensures that sustainability characteristics and GHG emissions savings
can be assigned to individual physical consignments of material, and that the amount of sustainable materials and products withdrawn at any stage of the supply chain does not exceed the amount of sustainable material added. The term consignment, or ‘batch’, describes a specific amount of material with the same sustainability characteristics and GHG emissions savings. In the following the term ‘batch’ will be uniformly used.

Source documents

Associated/ Association

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

As related to interventions, whether an intervention is sufficiently relevant to a company’s value chain following the AIM Standard Association Test.

Source documents

Assurance

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The level of confidence that the inventory and report are complete, accurate, consistent, transparent, relevant, and without material misstatements.

GHG Protocol LSRS

The level of confidence that the inventory and report are complete, accurate, consistent, transparent, relevant, as well as permanent and conservative for removals, and without material misstatements.

VCI Glossary

[From GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard] The level of confidence that the inventory and report are complete, accurate, consistent, transparent, relevant, and without material misstatements

Source documents

Attribution

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The process of assigning specified characteristics to outputs within a chain of custody system boundary.

ISEAL CoC V2

The process of assigning specified characteristics to outputs within a CoC system boundary

VCI Glossary

[Based on Brander 2021] Attribution is the partitioning of carbon budgets (emissions & removals) to entities. Note that the term may be used interchangeably with “assignment”.

VCI Net Zero

[Based on Brander 2021] Attribution is the partitioning of carbon budgets (emissions & removals) to entities. Note that the term may be used interchangeably with “assignment”.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[Based on Brander 2021] Attribution is the partitioning of carbon budgets (emissions & removals) to entities. Note that the term may be used interchangeably with “assignment”.

Verra & SustainCERT

The act of assigning, associating, partitioning or distributing GHG data
(e.g., emissions, reductions) at a specific reference scale (process, product, corporate, country).

In terms of corporate [Brander, 2021]: Attribution is the par titioning of carbon budgets (emissions and removals) to entities. Note that the term may be used interchangeably with “assignment ”. In the VCIM, attribution is the assignment of data from the intervention (including emissions data) to a specific unit of impacted product.
In terms of products [ISEAL/VCI GHRS, 2022]: Attribution is how GHG data is connected to a specific unit of certified commodity.

Source documents

Attribution (in Chain of custody context)

Definitions

ISO 22095-2:2026

Assignment of credits or specified characteristics (rolling average percentage method) to outputs or part of the outputs.

ISO 22095-3:2026

Assignment of credits (credit method) or specified characteristics (rolling average percentage method) to outputs or part of the outputs.

VCI Glossary

[Based on ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] Attribution is the process of assigning specified characteristics to outputs (of a same product group) within a CoC system boundary.
Specified characteristics can be attributed to outputs within a product group in two ways:
– Proportional attribution
– Non-Proportional attribution

Proportional attribution: where specified characteristics are distributed evenly across all outputs associated with a manufacturing process, mirroring the physical blend or flow of materials – i.e. each unit of output reflects an equal share of the input material, and corresponding attributes. The approach maintains a physical relationship between characteristics and the material. This method can be applied at batch and site-level transfer boundaries, and is the defining feature of the controlled blending CoC model.

Non-proportional attribution: where specified characteristics are not distributed evenly across all outputs associated with a manufacturing process. This may be used when a batch is split to fulfil multiple customer orders, or where only some customers require material with specified characteristics.

Source documents

Attributional accounting

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

A type of GHG accounting that quantifies total GHG emissions (and removals and other accounting categories, if applicable) within a defined inventory boundary and time period.
Attributional accounting is often used to track annual progress relative to a historical base year.

SBTi CNZS V2.0

A type of GHG accounting that quantifies and tracks total GHG emissions (and also removals and other accounting categories if applicable) within a defined inventory boundary over time, typically relative to a historical base year. Corporate inventory accounting is a type of attributional accounting that is the primary method used by corporations and other organizations to report emissions from their operations and value chains. The attributional accounting approach requires reporting organizations to define clear organizational and operational boundaries, within which emissions are quantified and organized across scopes 1, 2, and 3 (GHG Protocol, 2026).

TCAT MAARG

Also sometimes known as allocational accounting. The assignment (attribution) of GHG emissions to the activities and processes a company uses to produce products and services.

VCI Glossary

[Based on Brander 2021 Attributional accounting tracks emissions and removals over time within a defined organizational and operational boundary. Attributional accounting is used for corporate inventories, national inventories, and traditional product life cycle assessments.

Source documents

Avoided emissions

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

GHG emissions that are prevented as a result of a company’s action(s),
compared to a baseline scenario without the action(s) (Land Sector and Removals Standard ).

SBTi CNZS V2.0

Product-related avoided emissions are emission reductions that occur outside of the life cycle or value chain of a product or service, but as a result of the use of that product (GHG Protocol, 2017). Avoided emissions account for the favorable differences in the GHG emissions impact of a product (good or service) relative to the situation where that product does not exist (WRI, 2019).

VCI Glossary

[From SBTi Glossary (based on GHG Protocol]
Product-related avoided emissions are emission reductions that occur outside of the life cycle or value chain of a product or service, but as a result of the use of that product. Avoided emissions account for the favourable differences in the GHG emissions impact of a product (good or service) relative to the situation where that product does not exist.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From SBTi Glossary (based on GHG Protocol]
Product-related avoided emissions are emission reductions that occur outside of the life cycle or value chain of a product or service, but as a result of the use of that product. Avoided emissions account for the favourable differences in the GHG emissions impact of a product (good or service) relative to the situation where that product does not exist.

WBCSD Avoided Emissions

The estimated difference in full life cycle GHG emissions that result from a scenario with a solution in place, compared to a reference scenario without the solution when reference scenario emissions are higher (ISO 14064-1). This reduction occurs in other actors’ direct emissions.

Source documents

Binding agreement

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

A legally enforceable contract that commits the company to fund an intervention or purchase the output of an intervention (e.g., certain EAC offtake agreements).

Source documents

Book

Definitions

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

The process of recording the characteristics of a solution or a low emission transportation service in a system for tracking these characteristics. A registry is an example of such a system.

Source documents

Book and Claim

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

“A model in which the transfer of certified volumes are decoupled from the
physical flow of material or product through the supply chain” (ISEAL, 2025).

“Chain of custody model in which the administrative record flow is not
necessarily connected to the physical flow of material or product throughout
the supply chain” (ISO 22095:2020).

“Chain of custody model in which the transfer of specified characteristics are
not connected to the physical flow of material or products through the supply
chain” (Land Sector and Removals Standard ).

ISO 22095-2:2026

Chain of custody model in which the administrative record flow is not necessarily connected to the physical flow of material or product throughout the supply chain.

ISO 22095-3:2026

Chain of custody model in which the administrative record flow is not necessarily connected to the physical flow of material or product throughout the supply chain.

ISCC EU 203

A third chain of custody option known as book-and-claim is not allowed under the RED II. With book-and-claim the traceability at any stage of the supply chain is not given, and no link between the sustainability characteristics and the actual material flow can be provided.

ISEAL CoC V2

A model in which the transfer of certified volumes are decoupled from the physical flow of material
or product through the supply chain (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

A chain of custody model that allows environmental attributes to be decoupled from physical products or services that would ordinarily directly carry those attributes, creating a separate certificate that allows buyers without physical access to decarbonized transportation services or fuels to financially enable the decarbonization of heavy transport and claim its benefits.

VCI Glossary

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A book and claim CoC model is a model in which the transfer of certified volumes are decoupled from the physical flow of material or product through the supply chain (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A book and claim CoC model is a model in which the transfer of certified volumes are decoupled from the physical flow of material or product through the supply chain (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

Source documents

Book and Claim System

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

A supply chain traceability model that allows producers of certified or sustainable commodities (such as renewable energy or low carbon cement) to “book” the environmental attributes of their products into a registry and issue associated certificates. Buyers can then “claim” these certificates without taking physical delivery of the actual product. This decouples the physical supply chain from the certification claim.

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

The market infrastructure (sustainability certification systems, registries, and accounting standards) that allows fuel or transport service providers to “book” the environmental attributes of a transportation product and/or service they’ve generated, creating certificates, so that customers can then “claim” the emissions benefit represented by these certificates for climate disclosures.

Source documents

Bundled booking

Definitions

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

A booking in which a solution provider books two sets of characteristics together with each other, the emitter’s emission profile and the supply chain emission profile.

Source documents

Carbon Credit

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

A convertible and transferable instrument usually
bestowed by a GHG program, representing the reduction, avoidance, or enhanced removal of a
specified amount of GHG emissions (typically equivalent to one metric tonne of CO2), not
necessarily used as an offset.

ICVCM CCPs

A tradeable intangible instrument that is issued by a carbon-crediting program, representing a GHG emission reduction to, or removal from, the atmosphere equivalent to one metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. This is calculated as the difference in GHG emissions or removals from a baseline scenario to the emissions or removals occurring under the mitigation activity, and any adjustments for leakage. The carbon credit is uniquely serialised, issued, tracked and retired or administratively cancelled by means of an electronic registry operated by an administrative body, such as a carbon-crediting program.

TCAT MAARG

A type of environmental attribute certificate that represents a mitigation outcome and conveys the right to claim an amount (e.g., one metric tonne of CO₂e) of emission reduction, avoidance, or removal of greenhouse gases resulting from a mitigation action.

VCI Glossary

[From SBTi Glossary] A carbon credit is a tradable unit that represents one metric tonne of avoided GHG emissions, reduced GHG emissions or GHG removals.

VCI MBIs

A carbon credit is a tradable unit issued under a carbon crediting program that represents a verified GHG mitigation outcome, expressed as one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent. Credits are typically quantified by comparing emissions or removals to a defined baseline scenario with those achieved through a specific activity, intervention, project or program. The quantification approach reflects project-based accounting methodologies and should not be conflated with the traceability or tradability features of the instrument itself.

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A carbon credit is a tradable financial instrument that is issued by a carbon crediting programme and that represents a verified GHG mitigation outcome of one metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, calculated as the difference between the baseline and activity emissions. Carbon cred- its are uniquely serialised, issued, tracked, and retired or cancelled by means of an elec- tronic carbon registry operated by an administrative body such as the administrator of a carbon crediting programme.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A carbon credit is a tradable financial instrument that is issued by a carbon crediting programme and that represents a verified GHG mitigation outcome of one metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, calculated as the difference between the baseline and activity emissions. Carbon cred- its are uniquely serialised, issued, tracked, and retired or cancelled by means of an elec- tronic carbon registry operated by an administrative body such as the administrator of a carbon crediting programme.

Source documents

Carbon crediting programme

Definitions

ICVCM CCPs

A standard-setting program that registers mitigation activities and issues carbon credits.

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A carbon crediting pro- gramme is a standard-setting programme for registering mitigation activities and issu- ing carbon credits against the programme’s criteria. High-Integrity Carbon Credits need to be issued by best in class carbon crediting programmes that meet such as ICVCM’s CCPs.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A carbon crediting pro- gramme is a standard-setting programme for registering mitigation activities and issu- ing carbon credits against the programme’s criteria. High-Integrity Carbon Credits need to be issued by best in class carbon crediting programmes that meet such as ICVCM’s CCPs.

Source documents

Carbon registry

Definitions

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A database for tracking the issuance, transfers, and use of carbon credits.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A database for tracking the issuance, transfers, and use of carbon credits.

Source documents

Causality

Definitions

SustainCERT Credibility Framework

Demonstration that the intervention representative has substantively contributed to or enabled the intervention and the resulting benefits.

VCI Glossary

[Adapted from VCI Guidance 1.1] Causality is the demonstration that an investment (or other equivalent action) of a company or group of companies acting collectively is what caused the Intervention to happen or to continue to happen. The rights over mitigation outcomes generated depends on the requirements of the issuing body, which may not necessarily align directly with this definition.

VCI Net Zero

[From VCI 1.1 Guidance] Causality is the demonstration that an investment (or other equivalent action) of a company or group of companies acting collectively is what caused the Intervention to happen. Causality does not guarantee rights to be able to issue or re- tire carbon credits for other purposes from an intervention. This depends on the require- ments of the issuing body, which may not necessarily align directly with this definition. This definition was strengthened by the SBTi FLAG guidance and method addendum published in November 2022: “A company claiming to follow this guidance must show that they have contributed to the upkeep and continuation of the carbon farming Inter- vention. The company should ensure no double claiming of causality is done.”

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From VCI 1.1 Guidance] Causality is the demonstration that an investment (or other equivalent action) of a company or group of companies acting collectively is what caused the Intervention to happen. Causality does not guarantee rights to be able to issue or re- tire carbon credits for other purposes from an intervention. This depends on the require- ments of the issuing body, which may not necessarily align directly with this definition. This definition was strengthened by the SBTi FLAG guidance and method addendum published in November 2022: “A company claiming to follow this guidance must show that they have contributed to the upkeep and continuation of the carbon farming Inter- vention. The company should ensure no double claiming of causality is done.”

Source documents

Certificate

Definitions

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

A certificate represents the environmental attributes (including carbon intensity, GHG emissions reductions, and other sustainability characteristics that substantiate a claim) associated with a given quantity of low carbon fuel or transport service (e.g. metric ton of neat SAF or MJ of energy). For the purposes of this document, we will use the term “certificate,” though this is also commonly referred to as a BCU (book and claim unit), credit, or token.

Verra & SustainCERT

A certificate is a formal document that conveys verified environmental or social
attributes of a product, service, or activity, based on compliance with defined standards or criteria.

Source documents

Chain of Custody

Definitions

ISCC EU 203

‘Chain of custody’ is a general term for the process of transferring, monitoring and controlling inputs and outputs and related specific information as they move through the supply chain. This provides credibility that a given batch of material or product is associated with a set of specific characteristics (e.g. regarding sustainability and GHG savings) and that the information on the specific characteristics linked to the material or product is transferred, monitored and controlled throughout the supply chain. Different chain of custody methods are available for the handling of sustainable materials along the supply chain, including the two methods that are applicable under this standard: Product segregation and mass balance. A third method, known as book & claim is not allowed.

ISEAL CoC V2

A means by which inputs, outputs, and associated attributes are transferred, monitored and
controlled as they move forward through each step in the supply chain (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

VCI Glossary

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] Chain of Custody (CoC) is a means by which inputs, outputs, and associated attributes are transferred, monitored and controlled as they move forward through each step in the supply chain (adapted from ISO 22095).

[Evolved from ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, 2016] Chain of Custody (CoC) is the custodial sequence that occurs as ownership or control of the material supply is transferred from one custodian to another in the supply chain.

VCI Net Zero

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions] The custodial sequence that occurs as own- ership or control of the material supply is transferred from one custodian to another in the supply chain’.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions] The custodial sequence that occurs as own- ership or control of the material supply is transferred from one custodian to another in the supply chain’.

Source documents

Chain of custody model

Definitions

GHG Protocol LSRS

The approach taken to control inputs and outputs, and transfer specified characteristics within the chain of custody system.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

The approach taken to transfer the information associated with a
material or product as ownership of the material or product transfers from one entity to another
in a value chain.

ISEAL CoC V2

The approach taken to control inputs and outputs, and transfer specified characteristics within the CoC system (adapted from ISO 22095:2020).

Source documents

Chain of Custody System

Definitions

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

A set of measures underlying the process by which materials or products (and information on those materials or products) are transferred, monitored, and controlled as they move through each step in a supply chain.

Source documents

Claim

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

Information declared by the reporting organization (Section 3.4.1).

ISO 22095-2:2026

Declared information regarding the specified characteristics of a material or product.

ISO 22095-3:2026

Declared information regarding the specified characteristics of a material or product.

ISEAL CoC V2

In the context of CoC, the declared information regarding the specified characteristics of a material or product (adapted from ISO 22095:2020).

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

The process of securing the characteristics of a solution or a low emission transportation service from a system for tracking these characteristics. A registry is an example of such a system.

VCI Glossary

Claiming

Detailed presentation or declaration conveying the reportable or narrative climate mitigation progress and status of a company and/or the contribution of a specific activity.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[Claiming] Detailed presentation or declaration conveying the reportable or narrative climate mitigation progress and status of a company and/or the contribution of a specific activity.

Verra & SustainCERT

Detailed presentation or declaration conveying the reportable or narrative climate mitigation progress and status of a company and/or the contribution of a specific activity.

Source documents

Climate change mitigation

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)] A human Intervention to reduce emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases.

VCI Net Zero

[From the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)] A human Intervention to reduce emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)] A human Intervention to reduce emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases.

Source documents

Commodity certificates

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

Commodity certificates are instruments that represent the environmental attributes of an
underlying good, product, or service. Attributes can be binary (e.g., renewable energy
versus non-renewable) or metric-based (e.g., low-carbon coffee, with an emission factor
of X)”

Commodity certificates convey “the environmental or sustainability performance (e.g.,
GHG emissions intensity) of a commodity or material like timber, agricultural products,
and metals” (SBTi Draft Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2 Explained ).

VCI MBIs

Commodity certificates are contractual or negotiable instruments used to represent and transfer verified attributes associated with the production and manufacturing of sustainable or responsibly sourced commodities and materials. In the context of sustainability and climate action, commodity certificates refer specifically to voluntary certification and verification instruments issued under recognized sustainability standards and systems that verify social, environmental, and/or climate-related practices along commodity value chains.

Source documents

Component

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The products (goods and services) companies directly purchase and sell across their value chains. Components include: 1) products purchased from direct (Tier 1) suppliers, 2) products sold to a company’s customers (either end users or business- to-business customers), and 3) employee commuting activities (although most companies do not “purchase” employee commuting activities, for the purposes of the AIM Standard employee commuting activities are inventory subcomponents). Components are sometimes referred to as emissions-intensive activities (EIAs).

Source documents

Comprehensive Multi-statement GHG report

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

A report comprised of both the physical inventory statement and a set of additional GHG reporting statements in which companies can report interventions that are not accounted for in the physical inventory. The AIM Standard introduces two additional reporting statements: the contractual inventory and the impact statement.

Source documents

Consequential accounting

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

A type of GHG accounting that estimates the impacts or changes in GHG emissions (and removals) resulting from specific projects, actions, or interventions relative to a baseline scenario in which the project, action, or intervention did not occur. It quantifies the systemwide or global change in GHGs in the atmosphere caused by an action, project, or intervention.

TCAT MAARG

Quantifies the change in emission levels that results from a mitigation action, calculated against a baseline.

VCI Glossary

[From GHG Management Institute] Consequential accounting methods aim at quantifying system-wide change in emissions/removals caused by a decision or Intervention; setting the accounting boundary as large as it needs to be to capture all material direct and indirect impacts. These methods aim to account for change relative to a predicted, counterfactual baseline (e.g., what would have happened in the absence of the decision or Intervention). Examples of consequential accounting methods include project/Intervention-level accounting, consequential Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), policy-level accounting.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From GHG Management Institute] Consequential accounting methods aim at quantifying system-wide change in emissions/removals caused by a decision or Intervention; setting the accounting boundary as large as it needs to be to capture all material direct and indirect impacts. These methods aim to account for change relative to a predicted, counterfactual baseline (e.g., what would have happened in the absence of the decision or Intervention). Examples of consequential accounting methods include project/Intervention-level accounting, consequential Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), policy-level accounting.

Source documents

Consequential approach

Definitions

WBCSD Avoided Emissions

A method that estimates comparative GHG impacts as the total, system-wide change in emissions and removals that results from a given decision or intervention.

Source documents

Contractual GHG inventory

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

An attributional inventory that allocates emissions (and removals, where applicable) based on qualified contractual arrangements conveying attributes for the purchase of goods and services. It reflects procurement and market choices through eligible market instruments and contractual chain-of-custody models, and is maintained separately from the physical GHG inventory to ensure transparency and preserve accounting integrity. The contractual inventory is also known as the market-based inventory.

Source documents

Controlled blending

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

Chain of custody model in which materials or products with a set
of specified characteristics are mixed according to certain criteria with materials or
products without that set of characteristics, resulting in a proportional attribution of the
specified characteristics within all parts of the final output(s) or product group(s).

ISEAL CoC V2

A CoC model in which certified input materials are mixed according to certain criteria with
non-certified materials or product, resulting in a known proportion of certified materials in the final output (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

VCI Glossary

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A CoC model in which certified input materials are mixed according to certain criteria with non-certified materials or product, resulting in a known proportion of certified materials in the final output (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A CoC model in which certified input materials are mixed according to certain criteria with non-certified materials or product, resulting in a known proportion of certified materials in the final output (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

Source documents

Controlled mass balance

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

A variation of mass balance, where all input material
entering the system boundary has specific attributes—most commonly that all the
material, whether certified or not, is compliant with a set of minimum specified legal or
sustainability requirements (ISEAL, 2025).

ISEAL CoC V2

A variation of mass balance, where all input material entering the system boundary has specific attributes – most commonly that all the material, whether certified or not, is compliant with a set of minimum specified legal or sustainability requirements.

VCI Glossary

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A variation of mass balance, where all input material entering the system boundary has specific attributes – most commonly that all the material, whether certified or not, is compliant with a set of minimum specified legal or sustainability requirements

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A variation of mass balance, where all input material entering the system boundary has specific attributes – most commonly that all the material, whether certified or not, is compliant with a set of minimum specified legal or sustainability requirements

Source documents

Credit

Definitions

ISO 22095-2:2026

Representation of the quantity of units available for attribution with entitlement to claim the ownership of specified characteristics.

ISO 22095-3:2026

Representation of the quantity of units available for attribution with entitlement to claim the ownership of specified characteristics,

ISCC EU 203

If within one mass balance period more sustainable material (including existing inventory of sustainable material that was available at the beginning of the mass balance period) was received than was dispatched, the surplus of sustainable material in the bookkeeping is called ‘credit’.

Source documents

Distribution (in CoC context)

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From the VCI & ISEAL paper Traceability in GHG accounting, based on ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] Distribution is defined as ‘the assignment of specific characteristics between product groups (co-products, by-products, waste) produced by a manufacturing process, based on mass-based conversion factors.’

Specified characteristics can be distributed to co-products in two ways:
– Proportional distribution
– Non-proportional distribution

Proportional distribution: where specified characteristics are transferred between product groups (co-products) following thephysical conversion factors. This maintains the physical link between inputs and outputs maintained by the CoC system.

Non-proportional distribution: where specified characteristics are transferred between product groups (co-products) following non-physical conversion factors. This breaks the physical link between inputs and outputs maintained by the CoC system.

Source documents

Double claiming

Definitions

ICVCM CCPs

A type of double counting in which the same GHG emission reduction or removal is claimed by two different entities towards achieving mitigation targets or goals: once by a country, jurisdiction
or other entity that reports lower GHG emissions or higher GHG removals for the purpose of demonstrating achievement of a mitigation target or goal, and once by the entity retiring the carbon credit for the purpose of making a GHG emission offsetting claim.

VCI Glossary

[From SBTi Glossary] A type of double counting in which the same emissions reduction or removal is claimed by two different entities towards achieving mitigation targets or goals. The double claiming of emissions reductions and removals often happens between a company’s GHG inventory and the national inventory where that mitigation outcome occurred. In the context of voluntary carbon markets, double claiming can occur between a country, jurisdiction, or other entity that reports lower emissions or higher removals for the purpose of demonstrating achievement of a mitigation target or goal, and the entity retiring the carbon credit for the purpose of making a claim (adapted from ICVCM, 2022).

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A situation in which the same mitigation outcome is claimed by more than one different actor (member of the same value chain or not), e.g., once by an organisation sourcing from a Supply Shed (the organisation reports lower emissions or higher removals for the purpose of demonstrat- ing achievement of a mitigation target or goal), and once by an actor using a certificate from a low GHG certification scheme implemented in the same Supply Shed.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A situation in which the same mitigation outcome is claimed by more than one different actor (member of the same value chain or not), e.g., once by an organisation sourcing from a Supply Shed (the organisation reports lower emissions or higher removals for the purpose of demonstrat- ing achievement of a mitigation target or goal), and once by an actor using a certificate from a low GHG certification scheme implemented in the same Supply Shed.

Source documents

Double Counting

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

A situation in which a single emissions reduction and/or removal is counted more than once towards achieving mitigation targets or goals (adapted from (ICVCM, 2022). Double counting may refer to a situation in which a quantity of GHG emissions is included in more than one organization’s GHG inventory. This can occur across scopes (scope 1, 2 and 3) and within a single scope due to differing consolidation approaches, differing emissions calculation methodologies, and the intentional design of emissions accounting standards.

ICVCM CCPs

A situation in which a single GHG emission reduction or removal is counted more than once towards achieving mitigation targets or goals. Double counting can occur through double issuance, double use, and double claiming.

ISO 22095-2:2026

Accounting for inputs or outputs or specified characteristics more than once.

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

Double counting in book and claim systems refers to the erroneous, duplicate or improper accounting of emission reductions, encompassing three main scenarios: double issuance (duplicate creation of certificates for the same solution), double claiming (multiple parties claiming the same certificates), double use (repeated utilization of a single certificate by the same party for multiple purposes).

VCI Glossary

[From SBTi Glossary] A situation in which a single emissions reduction and/or removal is counted more than once towards achieving mitigation targets or goals (adapted from ICVCM, 2022). Double counting may refer to a situation in which a quantity of GHG emissions is included in more than one organization’s GHG inventory. This can occur across scopes (cope 1, 2 and 3) and within a single scope due to differing consolidation approaches, differing emissions calculation methodologies, and the intentional design of emissions accounting standards.

{Adapted from VCI Apparel & Footwear Value chain Intervention Guidance. Driving the decarbonization of the Apparel & Footwear value chain] Double counting occurs when the same emission reduction or removal is reported more than once within the same reporting sheet by different entities. For example, double counting would happen if two entities report the same reductions within Scope 3 inventory emissions (physical) or within the MBM emissions adjacent to VC. This form of double counting should not be allowed.

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A situation in which a miti- gation outcome is counted more than once. Double counting can occur through double issuance of impact units, double use and/or double claiming.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A situation in which a miti- gation outcome is counted more than once. Double counting can occur through double issuance of impact units, double use and/or double claiming.

Verra & SustainCERT

Any situtation in which an emission factor, emission reduction or removals is issued by a GHG-related credit system, and/or is claimed by an enttity that does not reflect the actual atmospheric impact of an activity in the accounting framework in which it is reported. Examples include over-claiming and over-issuance.

Source documents

Double issuance

Definitions

ICVCM CCPs

A type of double counting in which more than one carbon credit is issued for the same emission reduction or removal. Double issuance leads to double counting if more than one of these carbon credits is claimed towards achieving mitigation targets or goals.

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A situation in which more than one impact unit is issued for the same mitigation outcome. This can occur when the same mitigation activity is registered under two different programmes or twice un- der the same programme.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A situation in which more than one impact unit is issued for the same mitigation outcome. This can occur when the same mitigation activity is registered under two different programmes or twice un- der the same programme.

Source documents

Double use

Definitions

ICVCM CCPs

A type of double counting in which a single carbon credit is claimed twice towards achieving mitigation targets or goals.

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A situation in which the same mitigation outcome is counted more than once towards achieving climate change mitigation. This could, for example, occur if an actor used a single impact unit to fulfil two different purposes.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A situation in which the same mitigation outcome is counted more than once towards achieving climate change mitigation. This could, for example, occur if an actor used a single impact unit to fulfil two different purposes.

Source documents

EAC System

No definitions available yet.

Emission reduction / removal unit (ERU)

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

The accounting expression for a GHG-related activity that conveys a quantified reduction or removal of GHG emissions relative to a defined baseline that represents historical or projected future emissions in the absence of the GHG-related activity.
ERUs express either a total amount of GHG emissions reduced or removed (e.g., 100 tCO₂e) or a reduction rate per unit of product or activity (e.g., 0.5 tCO₂e avoided per ton of cement).

Source documents

Environmental attribute certificate

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

A term sometimes used to refer to both carbon
credits and commodity certificates.

SBTi CNZS V2.0

Instruments used to quantify, verify and track the environmental benefits associated with commodities, activities or projects. (Note, this is a legacy term that is being phased out across the organization.)

TCAT MAARG

Certificates that are issued by registries and “book and claim” systems that represent : (1) the environmental “attributes” or characteristics of an underlying good, product or activity (e.g. 1MWh of renewable energy produced), and/or (2) an amount (e.g., one tonne of CO₂e) of emission reduction, storage, or removal of greenhouse gases resulting from a mitigation action expressed in metric tons of CO2e reduced or removed (i.e., carbon credits) or (3) an emissions intensity factor per unit of an underlying good, product or service

VCI Glossary

[From SBTi Glossary v1.2] Instrument that certifies and communicates the environmental and/or climate-related
attributes associated with commodities, activities or projects.

[From SBTi} Instruments that are used to convey environmental- or sustainability-related characteristics of a given
activity or commodity. Within the context of the SBTi, they fall into two broad categories: carbon credits (avoidance credits, reduction credits, removal credits), and Energy and commodity certificates (electricity certificates, fuel
cerঞficates, or commodity certificates)

Source documents

Environmental Attributes

Definitions

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

Characteristics of energy sources and other activities that represent specific sustainability aspects of those sources and activities. These attributes may include carbon intensity, GHG emissions reductions and other sustainability characteristics.

Source documents

Environmental integrity

Definitions

VCI Net Zero

[From SBTI Net Zero Standard] In the context of markets for mitigation outcomes, environmental integrity means that market-based cooperation must not lead to an in- crease in global net GHG emissions compared with the scenario where market-based instruments are not used.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From SBTI Net Zero Standard] In the context of markets for mitigation outcomes, environmental integrity means that market-based cooperation must not lead to an in- crease in global net GHG emissions compared with the scenario where market-based instruments are not used.

Source documents

GHG credit

No definitions available yet.

GHG-related activity

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

A GHG-related activity is any activity that makes a measurable, verifiable, and additional impact to global GHG emissions and/or impacts how GHG emissions are reported, categorized, or allocated in a company’s GHG inventory.

Source documents

Global impact mitigation

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

A measurable, verified, and additional greenhouse gas reduction or removal activity that occurs either inside or outside a company’s inventory and value chain.

Source documents

Identity preserved

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

Chain of custody model in which materials or products with
specified characteristics originating from a single source or origin are kept physically
separate from materials or products originating from other sources throughout the value
chain.

ISCC EU 203

Since the mixing of sustainable material with different characteristics is not
allowed, the identity of the material between the quantity bookkeeping and the
physical product is preserved. The Hard IP option can only be applied if the
input material was also physically segregated under Hard IP throughout the
whole upstream supply chain.

ISEAL CoC V2

A CoC model in which certified materials from a single source are kept physically separate from non- certified materials and materials from different sources, from initial input to final output (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

VCI Glossary

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A CoC model in which certified materials from a single source are kept physically separate from non-certified materials and materials from different sources, from initial input to final output (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

Source documents

Impact accounting

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

A method for quantifying the effect of specific climate actions on global emissions, compared to what would have occurred in the absence of those actions. It requires activities to meet criteria for measurability, verifiability, additionality, and attribution, and provides visibility into the “impact” of corporate investments.

Source documents

Impact Factor

Definitions

VCI GHG Accounting

The relative improvement in emissions caused by an Intervention’s
impact on a targeted Scope 3 Activity, based on the assessment of ex-ante and ex-post emissions. Depending on the nature of the activities in the Intervention it may be possible to use the Impact Factor to more efficiently assess the benefits of a larger scale intervention without repeating the quantification exercise each time. The credibility of this approach may depend on the homogeneity of activity and its expected results and is likely to require further safeguarding where Interventions and results are influenced by physical and spatial inputs, such as climate and water.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

The relative improvement in emissions caused by an Intervention’s
impact on a targeted Scope 3 Activity, based on the assessment of ex-ante and ex-post emissions. Depending on the nature of the activities in the Intervention it may be possible to use the Impact Factor to more efficiently assess the benefits of a larger scale intervention without repeating the quantification exercise each time. The credibility of this approach may depend on the homogeneity of activity and its expected results and is likely to require further safeguarding where Interventions and results are influenced by physical and spatial inputs, such as climate and water.

Source documents

Impact layer

Definitions

SustainCERT Credibility Framework

An impact layer is one or various steps taken by a good within its value chain journey such as production, processing, and packaging.

VCI Glossary

[From SustainCERT Verification Requirements V0.91] An impact layer is one or various steps taken by a good within its value chain journey such as production, processing, and packaging.

VCI Net Zero

An impact layer is a step in a good’s value chain. It can be a production step, a transfor- mation step, a transport, etc.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

An impact layer is a step in a good’s value chain. It can be a production step, a transfor- mation step, a transport, etc.

Source documents

Impact statement

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

A statement that provides a dedicated, structured statement for reporting on impacts (e.g., emissions avoided, reduced or removed) taken by the reporting company inside value chain using project accounting methods.

Source documents

Impact traceability

Definitions

GHG Protocol LSRS

The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information on the GHG emission or removal impacts of projects or interventions in the value chain of goods and services purchased or sold by the company, including upstream and downstream processes and products.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information on the
GHG emission or removal impacts of projects or interventions in the value chain of goods and
services purchased or sold by the company, including upstream and downstream processes and products.

VCI Glossary

[From the forthcoming GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance] The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information on the GHG emission or removal impacts of projects or Interventions in the value chain of goods and services purchased or sold by the company, including upstream and downstream processes and products.

[see traceability]

Source documents

Impact unit

Definitions

SustainCERT Credibility Framework

Verified absolute emission reductions or removals (in metric tonnes CO2e) that results from the difference between GHG emissions of the baseline and the scenario of an Intervention and which are linked to an impacted amount of product.

VCI Glossary

Verified absolute emission reduction or removal enhancement (in metric tonnes CO2e) that results from a delta between GHG emissions of the baseline and the scenario of an Intervention and which are linked to an impacted amount of product.

VCI Net Zero

Absolute reduction/removal (in tonnes CO2e) that results from a delta between emis- sion factors of the baseline and project scenario of an Intervention multiplied by the amount that has been impacted by the Intervention.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

Absolute reduction/removal (in tonnes CO2e) that results from a delta between emis- sion factors of the baseline and project scenario of an Intervention multiplied by the amount that has been impacted by the Intervention.

Source documents

Indirect Mitigation

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[Based on SBTi CNZS 2.0 draft – 1rs consultation]

Indirect mitigation describes measures that drive transformation relevant to a company’s value chain but cannot yet be tied to specific emission sources with the same level of assurance as for direct mitigation. This may include
mechanisms such as Book & Claim, broader sectoral programs, or upstream and downstream emission sources where traceability or boundary precision remains insufficient.

Source documents

Intervention

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

An action intended to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, or to remove and store GHGs from the atmosphere. Interventions can also be known as mitigation actions.

SustainCERT Credibility Framework

An umbrella term for any action that introduces a change to a Scope 3 activity. This could include a new technology, practice, or supply change (for example, to a different product input) to reduce or remove emissions. An intervention may include changes to several activities that reduce or sequester emissions in different ways and that may or may not be included within the Scope 3 inventory. An intervention can consist of one or several activities of the same or different type following the same validation and verification cycle.

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

An action taken to produce a low carbon fuel and/or transport service that leads to the creation of a certificate. A single intervention creates both scope 1 and scope 3 certificates.

VCI Glossary

[From VCI Guidance 1.1] An umbrella term for any action that introduces a change to a Scope 3 activity. This could include a new technology, practice, or supply change (for example, to a different product input) to reduce or remove emissions. An Intervention may include changes to several activities that reduce or sequester emissions in different ways and that may or may not be included within the Scope 3 inventory. An Intervention can consist of one or several activities of the same or different type following the same validation and verification cycle.

VCI GHG Accounting

An umbrella term for any action that introduces a change to a Scope 3 activity. This could include a new technology, practice, or supply change (for example, to a different product input or sourcing location) to reduce or remove emissions. An Intervention may include changes to several activities that reduce or sequester emissions in different ways and that may or may not be included within the Scope 3 Inventory.

VCI Net Zero

[From VCI 1.1 Guidance] An umbrella term for any action that introduces a change to a Scope 3 activity. This could include a new technology, practice, or supply change (for example, to a different product input or sourcing location) to reduce or remove emissions. An Intervention may include changes to several activities that reduce or sequester emissions in different ways and that may or may not be included within the Scope 3 Inventory. An Intervention can consist of one or several activities of the same or different type following the same validation and verification cycle.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From VCI 1.1 Guidance] An umbrella term for any action that introduces a change to a Scope 3 activity. This could include a new technology, practice, or supply change (for example, to a different product input or sourcing location) to reduce or remove emissions. An Intervention may include changes to several activities that reduce or sequester emissions in different ways and that may or may not be included within the Scope 3 Inventory. An Intervention can consist of one or several activities of the same or different type following the same validation and verification cycle.

Verra & SustainCERT

[Value Change Initiative, Glossary, 2025] An umbrella term for any action that introduces a change to a Scope 3 activity. This could include a new technology, practice, or supply change (for example, to a different product input) to reduce or remove emissions. An intervention may include changes to several activities that reduce or sequester emissions in different ways and that may or may not be included within the Scope 3 inventory. An intervention can consist of one or several activities of the same or different type following the same validation and verification cycle. Note: the term 'Intervention' can be traced back to ISO14080:2018(en) describing climate change mitigation as a "human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases (GHGs)" emerging from the IPCC fifth assessment Report (AR5) in 2014.

Source documents

Intervention accounting

Definitions

GHG Protocol LSRS

See "project accounting"

VCI Glossary

See ‘Project accounting’.

VCI Net Zero

[From GHG Protocol LSRG draft] Intervention accounting (also known as project ac- counting methods) is an assessment of the GHG emissions of actions relative to coun- terfactual baseline scenarios (conditions most likely to occur in the absence of the ac- tion) or other performance standards.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From GHG Protocol LSRG draft] Intervention accounting (also known as project ac- counting methods) is an assessment of the GHG emissions of actions relative to coun- terfactual baseline scenarios (conditions most likely to occur in the absence of the ac- tion) or other performance standards.

WBCSD Avoided Emissions

An accounting method that quantifies systemwide impacts of a specific action or intervention on GHG emissions and removals relative to a counterfactual reference scenario that represents the conditions most likely to occur in the absence of the action or intervention.

Source documents

Intervention baseline

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

A general term used to describe the reference activity data of the intervention. Intervention baselines can be a project accounting baseline, a pre-intervention emissions intensity, or an appropriate regional benchmark for the intervention.

Source documents

Intervention host

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

An entity that implements the intervention, or owns or controls the site where the intervention is implemented or occurs.

Source documents

Intervention investor

Definitions

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

A stakeholder that has potential rights to claim for reporting within a Scope 3 boundary or issue carbon credits for sale to offset buyers.

Source documents

Intervention occurence

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The date on which the intervention becomes fully operational and/or implemented. This may be at the same time as the Intervention Outcome.

Source documents

Intervention outcome

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The emissions benefit - usually an emissions reduction or removal - of an intervention. This may be at the same time as the Intervention Occurrence.

Source documents

Intervention outcome supplier

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

An intermediary or downstream actor that supplies the intervention outcomes (e.g., an alternative fuel supplier that is distributing but not producing the fuel and therefore is not the Intervention Host).

Source documents

Inventory

Definitions

ISCC EU 203

Inventory (or stock) is the physical amount of sustainable and non-sustainable material that is kept on-site by the economic operator in storage facilities. The inventory is measured or metered. It is the basis for calculating a mass balance, for determining credits at the end of a mass balance period and for verifying the plausibility of amounts of sustainable and non-sustainable material.

Source documents

Inventory accounting

Definitions

GHG Protocol LSRS

Accounting for GHG emissions, removals, and other accounting categories over time within a defined inventory boundary relative to a historical base year.

TCAT MAARG

A method for quantifying a company’s attributable emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3. It identifies where emissions occur within operations and the value chain, providing a baseline for business planning, target setting, and risk management.

VCI Glossary

[From the forthcoming GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance] Accounting for GHG emissions, removals, and other accounting categories over time within a defined inventory boundary relative to a historical base year.

Inventory accounting is a type of attributional accounting. See ‘attributional accounting’.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

Inventory accounting is used to calculate and report annual GHG emissions from sourc- es (and removals by sinks, if applicable) within the reporting entity’s inventory bound- ary. GHG inventories reflect direct (Scope 1) and indirect emissions (Scope 2 and 3), where progress is tracked relative to a historic base year or period.

Verra & SustainCERT

[World Resource Institute, Inventory and Project Accounting, 2023] Inventory accounting tracks GHG emissions and removals within a defined organizational and operational boundary over time. It is the primary method used by corporations and other organizations to report emissions from their operations and value chains. Its rules and procedures are detailed within several GHG Protocol standards and guidance including the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, the Scope 2 Guidance, the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, and the upcoming Land Sector and Removals Guidance. For comparable but nuanced definitions see GHGMI (2021) & Winrock (2025).

Source documents

Inventory adjustment

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

A GHG-related activity that does not result in a measurable, verifiable, additional, and attributable reduction or removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, but does affect how emissions are reported, categorized, or allocated in the Physical and/or Contractual Inventory Statements.

Source documents

Inventory aligned

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

A GHG-related activity that is quantified using activity data and emission factors consistent with the activity data in the company’s inventory and occurring within relevant temporal boundaries as the emitting activity.

Source documents

Level of assurance

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The degree of confidence with which an auditor assesses something (here, an intervention host’s practices or a company’s GHG emissions report) against criteria. Assurance can be provided to a limited or reasonable level.

GHG Protocol LSRS

Refers to the degree of confidence stakeholders can have regarding the information in the GHG report.

VCI Glossary

The degree of confidence stakeholders can have over the information in the inventory report.

VCI Net Zero

The degree of confidence stakeholders can have over the information in the inventory report.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

The degree of confidence stakeholders can have over the information in the inventory report.

Verra & SustainCERT

[ISO14050:2020] Degree of reliability the intended user requires in a validation or
verification.

Source documents

Limited level of assurance

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

Level of assurance where the nature and extent of the verification activities have been designed to provide a reduced level of assurance on historical data and information.

VCI Glossary

[From ISO 14064-3] In the context of verification of projects, a limited level of assurance means that the verification risk is higher than in the case of a reasonable level of assurance, that the nature, timing, and extent of evidence gathering activities is deliberately less than for a reasonable level of assurance but still results in assurance that is meaningful to intended users. This results in a negative opinion, e.g., “Based on the process and procedures conducted, there is no evidence that the GHG statement is not materially correct and is not a fair representation of GHG data and information.”

VCI Net Zero

[From ISO 14064-3] In the context of verification of projects, a limited level of assur- ance means that the verification risk is higher than in the case of a reasonable level of assurance, that the nature, timing, and extent of evidence gathering activities is delib- erately less than for a reasonable level of assurance but still results in assurance that is meaningful to intended users. This results in a negative opinion, e.g., “Based on the process and procedures conducted, there is no evidence that the GHG statement is not materially correct and is not a fair representation of GHG data and information.”

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From ISO 14064-3] In the context of verification of projects, a limited level of assur- ance means that the verification risk is higher than in the case of a reasonable level of assurance, that the nature, timing, and extent of evidence gathering activities is delib- erately less than for a reasonable level of assurance but still results in assurance that is meaningful to intended users. This results in a negative opinion, e.g., “Based on the process and procedures conducted, there is no evidence that the GHG statement is not materially correct and is not a fair representation of GHG data and information.”

Source documents

Low-carbon fuel certificates

Definitions

VCI MBIs

Instruments demonstrating reduced fuel carbon intensity, mainly under regulatory or hybrid schemes. Examples include SAF certificates under book-and-claim systems, and ISCC EU certifications linked to EU Renewable Energy Directive compliance.

Source documents

Low-carbon materials certificates

Definitions

VCI MBIs

Low-carbon materials certificates represent the verified GHG performance of industrial materials such as steel, cement, aluminum, chemicals, or polymers.
These instruments may be implemented through contractual or book-and-claim systems and generally focus specifically on carbon intensity metrics rather than broader sustainability criteria. Examples include low-carbon steel certificates issued under mass balance or book-and-claim systems, concrete or cement environmental product declarations that enable transferable carbon performance claims, aluminum carbon intensity certificates, and emerging voluntary schemes for low-emission industrial inputs.

Source documents

Market

Definitions

VCI GHG Accounting

The pool of potential suppliers for equivalent purchased goods targeted by
an intervention. A geographical definition is typically applied, for example the pool of potential suppliers in a given ‘sourcing area’ such as a catchment, landscape, country or area for like goods and services. In some cases a market may be further defined by specific market rules, such as those used by cooperatives.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

The pool of potential suppliers for equivalent purchased goods targeted by
an intervention. A geographical definition is typically applied, for example the pool of potential suppliers in a given ‘sourcing area’ such as a catchment, landscape, country or area for like goods and services. In some cases a market may be further defined by specific market rules, such as those used by cooperatives.

Source documents

Market instrument

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

A contractual arrangement between two or more parties that enables the creation, transfer, or claiming of greenhouse gas (GHG) related environmental attributes.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

A contractual arrangement between two or more parties that enables
the creation, transfer, or claiming of GHG-related environmental attributes.

SBTi CNZS V2.0

A contractual arrangement between two or more
parties that enables the creation, transfer, or claiming of GHG-related environmental attributes (e.g., emissions factors or production characteristics). Market instruments include, but are not limited to, certificates, mitigation-related contracts and GHG credits (adapted from VCI, 2026 and GHG Protocol, 2026a).

Source documents

Market-based instrument

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From European Environment Agency glossary based on UNEP’s definition]

Market-based instruments seek to address the market failure of ‘environmental externalities’ either by incorporating the external cost of production or consumption activities through taxes or charges on processes or
products, or by creating property rights and facilitating the establishment of a proxy market for the use of environmental services.

VCI MBIs

Market-Based Instruments (MBIs) are economic and financial mechanisms used to incentivize, account for, and transfer greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation outcomes (emissions reductions and/or removals) and other environmental attributes that are not necessarily climate-related (e.g., deforestation-free, water, biodiversity). [...] MBIs are also commonly referred to as Environmental Attribute Certificates, contractual instruments, Market Based Mechanisms, Market Based Measurements and other denominations.

Source documents

Market-based mechanisms

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From VCI Position on market-based mechanisms – under development]

Market-based mechanisms (MBMs) or market-based instruments (MBIs) are economic and financial mechanisms, that are design to incentivize, account for, and transfer greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions or removals and other
environmental attributes.

MBMs aim to correct market failures by assigning a value to environmental benefits and enabling financial flows that reward mitigation outcomes. MBMs can serve as tools to channel investment toward value chain decarbonization.

MBIs often function similarly to financial instruments, such as bonds or securities, because they are governed by contracts between two or more parties. Those contracts define:

– Who owns the rights to the mitigation outcomes or environmental benefit,
– Who is responsible for delivering, verifying, or retiring them
– How the transaction occurs, including the creation, transfer, or settlement of the environmental asset.

MBMs can enable the partial or total decoupling of physical goods sourced by an entity from the environmental attributes (such as emissions reductions, carbon sequestration, or renewable energy generation) associated with those goods.

Eligibility for inclusion in the GHG corporate reporting statements or inventories depends on additional criteria defined by GHG accounting standards.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From VCI Position on market-based mechanisms] Market-based mechanisms (MBMs) or market-based instruments are systems that leverage economic instruments—such as carbon credits, emission certificates, or attribute tracking—to incentivize and account for greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions/removals with flexible accounting approaches that de-couple physical goods sourced by a company from the environmental attributes associated with them.

Verra & SustainCERT

[Value Change Initiative, Glossary, 2025] Approaches that use carbon pricing and market dynamics to provide incentives to accelerate decarbonization of activities. GHG market-based accounting methods enable the calculation of GHG inventory emissions using certificates of GHG attributes that may be de-bundled from physical goods procured by the company. They may be based on contractual agreements (as per current Scope 2 GHG Protocol Guidance) and other instruments such as: Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) or Guarantees of Origin (GOs).

Source documents

Market-Based or Contractual reporting

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From VCI Position on market-based mechanisms – under development]

Quantifying and reporting GHG emissions, particularly Scope 2 and Scope 3, based on contractual instruments that reflect impact traceability to the environmental attributes (i.e., emissions intensity or emission factor) of purchased energy or commodities (e.g., RECs, PPAs, or book-and-claim mechanisms).

Source documents

Mass balance

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

“Chain of custody model in which materials or products with a set of specified
characteristics are mixed according to defined criteria with materials or
products without that set of characteristics” (ISO 22095:2020).

“A chain of custody model in which certified input materials are mixed
according to defined criteria with noncertified materials, and where there is no
guarantee of physical presence of specified characteristics in a material”
(ISEAL, 2025).

“Chain of custody model in which materials or products with a set of specified
characteristics are mixed according to defined criteria with materials without
that set of characteristics, and where the volume of content with the specified
characteristics can be attributed to any of the parts of the final output(s) or
product group(s), at the transfer boundary. If the transfer boundary is
producing various outputs or product groups, allocation has to be performed
first. Transfer boundary can be at a given stage in the value chain, where the
volume of content with specified characteristics is reconciled at a:
o Batch-level—for the final outputs from the batch at the point of blending.
o Site-level (facility)—for the final outputs at the site over a defined
reconciliation period, recommended to not exceed 12 months.
o Multi-site/group-level—for the final outputs from the multiple sites over a
defined reconciliation period, recommended to not exceed 12 months.”
(Land Sector and Removals Standard ).

ISO 22095-2:2026

Chain of custody model in which materials or products with a set of specified characteristics are mixed or co-processed according to defined criteria with materials or products without that set of characteristics.

ISO 22095-3:2026

Chain of custody model in which materials or products with a set of specified characteristics are mixed or co-processed according to defined criteria with materials or products without that set of characteristics.

ISCC EU 203

Mass balance allows the physical mix of sustainable materials with different sustainability and GHG emissions saving characteristics (in the following referred to as sustainability characteristics) and non-sustainable materials.

ISEAL CoC V2

A CoC model in which certified input materials are mixed according to defined criteria with non-certified materials, and where there is no guarantee of physical

VCI Glossary

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A CoC model in which certified input materials are mixed according to defined criteria with non-certified materials, and where certified volumes may be attributed non-proportionally to corresponding output materials (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A CoC model in which certified input materials are mixed according to defined criteria with non-certified materials, and where certified volumes may be attributed non-proportionally to corresponding output materials (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

Source documents

Mitigation action

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

“A GHG-related activity that results in a measurable, verifiable, additional,
and attributable reduction or removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, relative to
what would have occurred in the absence of the mitigation action.
” (TCAT, p. 40)

TCAT MAARG

A GHG-related activity that results in a measurable, verifiable, additional, and attributable reduction or removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, relative to what would have occurred in the absence of the mitigation action.

Source documents

Mitigation activity

Definitions

ICVCM CCPs

An activity that reduces anthropogenic emissions of a GHG or enhances removals by sinks relative to GHG emissions or removals in the activity’s baseline scenario and seeks registration and issuance of carbon credits under a carbon-crediting program. The term refers to activities that may be implemented at different scales, including projects, programmatic approaches, policies, jurisdictional REDD+ programs, and other interventions. They may also be implemented at one or more sites.

Source documents

Mitigation outcome

Definitions

SustainCERT Credibility Framework

A reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) or an enhancement of removals (expressed in CO2 equivalent) as a result of the Intervention.

TCAT MAARG

Measurable, verified, and additional GHG emissions reduced and/or removed as a result of a mitigation action.

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] Emission reductions and removals are jointly referred to as mitigation outcomes.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] Emission reductions and removals are jointly referred to as mitigation outcomes.

Verra & SustainCERT

[Winrock International, Building language to build a market, 2025] Avoided, reduced, or removed and sequestered emissions that result from a mitigation activity. It implies a sense of surety/certainty of impact. Only for ex-post mitigation. Ex-ante investments or credits are not mitigation outcomes unless the term mitigation outcome is modified by another adjective (e.g., “estimated mitigation outcome” or “ex-ante mitigation outcome”).

Source documents

Mitigation tracking instruments

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

Certificates, contracts, and other supporting systems that can be used to track the outcomes of GHG-related activities. These can be used to transfer ownership—or the right to report a mitigation outcome and/or inventory emission changes—between parties (e.g., a project developer and a reporting company). This document uses emission profiles and emission reduction/removal units to organize and distinguish between types of tracking and claiming mechanisms.

Source documents

Mitigation-enabling outcomes funding

Definitions

SBTi CNZS V2.0

Providing funds for interventions that enable structural or system-level change, which unlock or accelerate mitigation at scale. These interventions do not directly reduce emissions in a company’s own operations or value chain, but instead change the conditions (policy, market, institutional, or infrastructural) that are necessary for widespread decarbonization. For example, a company might provide grants to a regional planning authority to develop spatial plans that allocate land for renewable energy deployment, or it might contribute pooled capital into a collective action platform that accelerates grid interconnection and shared infrastructure.

Source documents

Mitigation-related contracts

Definitions

VCI MBIs

Mitigation-related contracts do not necessarily rely on standardized certificates or registry-issued units, or require the mitigation outcomes to be directly linked to the impacted products through physical traceability. Rather than functioning as tradable instruments, these contracts embed climate performance and/or mitigation outcomes directly into commercial relationships between specific parties, such as buyers, suppliers, intermediaries, or implementers.

Source documents

Non-proportional attribution

Definitions

ISO 22095-2:2026

Assignment of credits to one or more outputs irrespective of the proportion of the individual outputs with respect to the total output.

ISEAL CoC V2

The assignment of specified characteristics to outputs in a way that does not mirror the physical blending of materials.

Source documents

Not inventory aligned

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

A GHG-related activity that is quantified using data that is not consistent with the company’s activity data or emission factors or does not align with inventory emitting activity scope and boundary criteria.

Source documents

Not physically delivered

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

A GHG-related activity where the emissions reduction or removal is not tied to the physical delivery of a product, good, or service. Instead, the exclusive right to report the emissions outcome is transferred independently through a contractual agreement or instrument (e.g. a sustainable aviation fuel certificate, a renewable energy certificate, or a carbon credit).

Source documents

Not sector associated

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

Describes a GHG-related activity that is not physically or economically linked to a company’s operations and does not perform the same function as, or serve as a direct input to, a GHG-emitting activity in the company’s inventory. While not sector associated, these activities may still generate mitigation outcomes and, when they do, are classified as Global Impact Mitigation.

Source documents

Performance GHG Accounting

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From GHG Management Institute] Performance GHG Accounting pertains to program and policy reporting and implementation. Unlike traditional physical GHG accounting, which measures actual emissions and removals, performance GHG accounting focuses on tracking an organization’s progress toward specific goals, often incorporating incentives or penalties for GHG mitigation actions. It is a score-based method that provides a meaningful metric for assessing performance over time relative to GHG objectives. While it does not directly measure atmospheric GHG emissions or removals, it offers a broader view of a company’s overall GHG performance, reflecting its alignment with policy-driven targets.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From GHG Management Institute] Performance GHG Accounting pertains to program and policy reporting and implementation. Unlike traditional physical GHG accounting, which measures actual emissions and removals, performance GHG accounting focuses on tracking an organization’s progress toward specific goals, often incorporating incentives or penalties for GHG mitigation actions. It is a score-based method that provides a meaningful metric for assessing performance over time relative to GHG objectives. While it does not directly measure atmospheric GHG emissions or removals, it offers a broader view of a company’s overall GHG performance, reflecting its alignment with policy-driven targets.

Source documents

Physical connectivity

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From the VCI & ISEAL paper Traceability in GHG accounting, based on ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] Physical connectivity means there is a likelihood that specified characteristics are physically present in the material claimed, but this presence cannot be ensured.

Models that provide this physical connectivity are the variants of Mass Balance (under certain conditions – physical connectivity in mass balance CoC system is not a given).

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the VCI & ISEAL paper Traceability in GHG accounting, based on ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] Physical connectivity means there is a likelihood that specified characteristics are physically present in the material claimed, but this presence cannot be ensured.

Models that provide this physical connectivity are the variants of Mass Balance (under certain conditions – physical connectivity in mass balance CoC system is not a given).

Source documents

Physical GHG emissions intenvory reporting / Physical GHG inventory

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The foundational estimate of physical GHG emissions (and removals, if applicable) resulting from a company’s activities.

GHG Protocol LSRS

An inventory of GHG emissions and removals occurring within the reporting company's operations and value chain using inventory accounting methods, without double counting by the same entity, and independent of any GHG trades such as purchases or sales of allowances, offsets, and credits.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

An inventory of GHG emissions (and removals, if applicable) occurring within the reporting company's operations and value chain using inventory accounting methods, without double counting by the same entity, and independent of any GHG trades such as purchases or sales of allowances, offsets, and credits (Land Sector and Removals Standard ).

SBTi CNZS V2.0

An attributional inventory that provides a comprehensive account of a reporting entity’s annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (and removals, where applicable) resulting from its activities across scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3. Emissions are allocated based on physical relationships and the physical flows of goods and services to the reporting entity. This includes the location-based method for scope 2. The physical inventory may use chain-of-custody models that establish physical traceability to the reporting entity and account for average emissions from a shared pool where physical traceability does not extend beyond that pool (adapted from GHG Protocol, 2026a).

VCI Glossary

{Adapted from GHGP and From GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance Technical Working Group updates} Quantification and reporting of organizational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on actual physical flows within a company’s value chain activities (categorized into scopes 1, 2, and 3) where the activities or commodities are physically linked to the emissions attributes through a traceability mechanism.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

{Adapted from GHGP and From GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance Technical Working Group updates} Quantification and reporting of organizational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on actual physical flows within a company’s value chain activities (categorized into scopes 1, 2, and 3) where the activities or commodities are physically linked to the emissions attributes through a traceability mechanism.

Source documents

Physical relationship

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From the VCI & ISEAL paper Traceability in GHG accounting, based on ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A physical relationship means that specified characteristics are physically present in the material. Models that provide this physical relationship are Identity Preservation, Segregation and Controlled Blending.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the VCI & ISEAL paper Traceability in GHG accounting, based on ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A physical relationship means that specified characteristics are physically present in the material. Models that provide this physical relationship are Identity Preservation, Segregation and Controlled Blending.

Source documents

Physical segregation

Definitions

ISCC EU 203

Physical segregation is the strictest method and means that materials with different properties are kept physically separated from each other on their journey through the supply chain.

Source documents

Physical traceability

Definitions

GHG Protocol LSRS

The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information on activities (e.g., activity data or GHG emission or removals factors) related to material flows of goods and services in its value chain, across its upstream and downstream processes and products.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information on
activities (e.g., activity data or GHG emission or removals factors) related to material flows of
goods and services in its value chain, across its upstream and downstream processes and
products.

SBTi CNZS V2.0

The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information on activities (e.g., activity data, GHG emissions or removals factors) related to material flows of goods and services in its value chain, across its upstream and downstream processes and products (GHG Protocol, 2026).

VCI Glossary

[From the forthcoming GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance] Physical traceability is “when a company has the ability to identify, track, and collect information on activities (e.g., activity data or GHG emission or removals factors) related to material flows of goods and services in its value chain, across its upstream and downstream processes and products”.

[see traceability]

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the forthcoming GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance] Physical traceability is “when a company has the ability to identify, track, and collect information on activities (e.g., activity data or GHG emission or removals factors) related to material flows of goods and services in its value chain, across its upstream and downstream processes and products”.

Source documents

Physically delivered

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

A GHG-related activity where the emissions reduction or removal is transferred together with a physical product, good, or service that the company purchases or uses. In this case, the reporting company 1) receives the physical product, goods, or service, 2) has the exclusive right to report the emissions reduction or removal, 3) retains ownership of any related instruments (e.g., credits or certificates) that could transfer the reporting right.

Source documents

Project

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

A specific action or set of actions designed to reduce, remove, and/or avoid
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

“A specific project or activity designed to achieve GHG emission reductions, storage of
carbon, or enhancement of GHG removals from the atmosphere. GHG projects may be
standalone projects, or specific activities or elements within a larger non-GHG related project.”
(“GHG Project” from Corporate Standard , p. 98)

SBTi CNZS V2.0

A specific action designed to deliver GHG emission
reductions, storage of carbon, or enhancement of
GHG removals from the atmosphere. GHG projects
may be standalone projects, or specific activities or
elements within a larger non-GHG related project
(adapted from “GHG project” GHG Protocol, 2004).

Source documents

Project accounting/consequential accounting/intervention accounting

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

Project-based accounting

A type of consequential accounting that estimates the impacts or changes in GHG emissions resulting from specific projects, actions, or interventions. relative to a baseline scenario.

GHG Protocol LSRS

An accounting method that quantifies systemwide GHG impacts of a specific project, action, or intervention on GHG emissions, removals, and/or other accounting categories relative to a counterfactual baseline scenario that represents the conditions most likely to occur in the absence of the project, action, or intervention.

VCI Glossary

[From GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Guidance Draft] Project accounting (also known as “Intervention accounting methods”) is a type of consequential accounting and provides an assessment of the GHG emissions of actions relative to counterfactual baseline scenarios (conditions most likely to occur in the absence of the action) or other performance standards.

See ‘consequential accounting’.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Guidance Draft] Project accounting (also known as “Intervention accounting methods”) is a type of consequential accounting and provides an assessment of the GHG emissions of actions relative to counterfactual baseline scenarios (conditions most likely to occur in the absence of the action) or other performance standards.

See ‘consequential accounting’.

Verra & SustainCERT

[Winrock International, Building language to build a market, 2025] Project-based accounting estimates the impacts or changes in GHG emissions resulting from specific projects, actions, or interventions relative to a baseline scenario. It is the primary method used to evaluate the emission effects of projects by comparing emissions and removals that happen in the project scenario with an estimate of what would have happened without the intervention. The project-based accounting approach evaluates system-wide emissions impacts of the specific project or intervention in question. "Project-based accounting" is also known as
"consequential accounting" or "impact accounting"

Source documents

Proportional attribution

Definitions

ISO 22095-2:2026

Assignment of credits to one or more outputs according to the proportion of the individual outputs with respect to the total output.

ISEAL CoC V2

The assignment of specified characteristics to outputs that mirrors the physical blending of materials with a manufacturing process.

Source documents

Proportional substitution

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From VCI Food & Ag Working Group IV] Proportional substitution is an idea which is currently under development. It is an integration approach that aims to solve the challenge of when emissions after the Intervention are actually higher than the EF included in the inventory. Proportional substitution would allow for a ‘screening out’ of the high emitting farms, and an adaptation of the remaining EF distribution.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From VCI Food & Ag Working Group IV] Proportional substitution is an idea which is currently under development. It is an integration approach that aims to solve the challenge of when emissions after the Intervention are actually higher than the EF included in the inventory. Proportional substitution would allow for a ‘screening out’ of the high emitting farms, and an adaptation of the remaining EF distribution.

Source documents

Reasonable assurance

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

Level of assurance where the nature and extent of the verification activities have been designed to provide a high but not absolute level of assurance on historical data and information.

Source documents

Registry

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

A digital platform that enables consistent issuance, transfer and retirement of intervention records according to a specified set of procedures.

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

A tool to register and track the transfer of the characteristics of a solution or service according to a transparent and verifiable registry standard.

VCI Glossary

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A database for tracking the issuance, transfers, and use of carbon credits.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] A database for tracking the issuance, transfers, and use of carbon credits.

Verra & SustainCERT

[World Resource Institute, The GHG Protocol, 2009:44] A public database of organizational GHG emissions and/or project reductions. Each registry has its own rules regarding what and how information is reported.

Source documents

Retirement

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The process that confirms the assignment of an intervention record to a specific beneficiary, conveying the right to claim the specified intervention’s outcomes.

ICVCM CCPs

The permanent removal of a carbon credit in a registry for the purpose of claiming the associated emission reductions or removals towards compliance requirements or voluntary goals. Only one single use should be associated with each retirement and the use should be clearly specified.

Verra & SustainCERT

Each registry has its own rules regarding what and how information is reported.

Source documents

Right-to-report

Definitions

SustainCERT Credibility Framework

[Under discussion in the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Guidance] A requirement that grants the right to report value chain mitigation outcomes in a Scope 3 inventory.

VCI Glossary

[Adapted from Making value chain decarbonisation a scalable reality. Role of Scope 3 systems in enabling collective action and co-investments] A requirement that establishes some elements to specify who can claim Scope 3 reductions/removals through some sort of evidence (e.g., contractual agreements).

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[Adapted from Making value chain decarbonisation a scalable reality. Role of Scope 3 systems in enabling collective action and co-investments] A requirement that establishes some elements to specify who can claim Scope 3 reductions/removals through some sort of evidence (e.g., contractual agreements).

Verra & SustainCERT

[adapted from Verra, S3S Program Definitions, 2015:15] A document that certifies that a reporting company is connected to an intervention via some level of value chain association, as defined by a program’s requirements and procedures.

Source documents

Sector association

Definitions

TCAT MAARG

Describes a GHG-related activity that is physically or economically linked to a company’s operations and/or performs the same function as, or serves as a direct input to, a GHG-emitting activity in the company’s inventory. Sector Associated activities contribute directly to the decarbonization of the sectors where the company has emitting activities.

Source documents

Segregation

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

Chain of custody model in which materials or products with a set of
specified characteristics are kept physically separate from materials or products without
that set of characteristics. This model allows for mixing of materials with the same set of
characteristics from multiple sources but not mixing with materials or products without
that set of characteristics.

ISEAL CoC V2

A CoC model in which certified materials are kept physically separate from non-certified materials from initial input to the final output (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

VCI Glossary

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A CoC model in which certified materials are kept physically separate from non-certified materials from initial input to the final output (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] A CoC model in which certified materials are kept physically separate from non-certified materials from initial input to the final output (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

Source documents

Subcomponent

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

Intermediate products that are inputs to the components. Subcomponents include: 1) input products used to produce components and, 2) downstream products and process outputs. Subcomponents are sometimes referred to as emissions-intensive activities (EIAs).

Source documents

Substitution

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

Substitution approach:

An accounting approach that involves replacing the emissions profile of an inventory (sub)component in a company’s physical inventory with the emissions profile of the intervention associated with that inventory(sub)component.

VCI Glossary

[From SustainCERT and VCI Food & Ag WG IV] Substitution is an inventory accounting method to integrate post-Intervention data by isolating individual components of an emission factor and replacing this with more accurate estimates specific to the value chain for a given year, updating the average data from the default EF.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From SustainCERT and VCI Food & Ag WG IV] Substitution is an inventory accounting method to integrate post-Intervention data by isolating individual components of an emission factor and replacing this with more accurate estimates specific to the value chain for a given year, updating the average data from the default EF.

Source documents

Subtraction

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From VCI Food & Ag Working Group IV] Subtraction, also known as deduction, or “netting”, is an integration approach that involves adjusting the total tCO2e in an inventory by subtracting the tCO2e generated by a project. The subtraction can be applied at all levels of the inventory e.g., by categories, by inventory item, by activities.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From VCI Food & Ag Working Group IV] Subtraction, also known as deduction, or “netting”, is an integration approach that involves adjusting the total tCO2e in an inventory by subtracting the tCO2e generated by a project. The subtraction can be applied at all levels of the inventory e.g., by categories, by inventory item, by activities.

Source documents

Supply shed

Definitions

GHG Protocol AMI WP

A group of suppliers providing functionally equivalent goods or services within a
fixed and spatially defined area that is demonstrably part of a company’s supply chain ( CI food
and agriculture sector guidance).

SBTi CNZS V2.0

A group of suppliers in a specifically defined market
(preferably at subnational level) providing similar
goods and services (commodities) that can be
demonstrated to be within the company’s supply chain (VCI, 2026).

SustainCERT Credibility Framework

Broadly defined as a group of suppliers in a specifically defined market (e.g. , at a national or sub-national level), providing similar goods and services that can be demonstrated to be within the company's value chain. This approach applies to situations where a company may not be able to directly trace sourcing to a specific upstream supplier, but it is known (i.e. , can be demonstrated) that sourcing comes from a group of suppliers within a 'market' from which the company sources.

VCI Glossary

[From Food & Ag Working Group IV] A Supply Shed is a group of suppliers providing functionally equivalent goods or services within a fixed and spatially defined area that is demonstrably part of a company’s supply chain. The Supply Shed includes all suppliers within designated boundaries, regardless of their practices or segmentation.

VCI GHG Accounting

A group of suppliers in a specifically defined geography and/or market (e.g., at a national or sub-national level) providing similar goods and services that can be demonstrated to be associated with the company's value chain. It may not be feasible to demonstrate which specific suppliers provide the goods and services, but it should be demonstrable that they are in the group that do, for example by demonstrating that these suppliers provide material to the company’s direct suppliers. The concept of Supply Shed is introduced to cater for situations where a reporting company may not be able to directly trace sourcing to a specific supplier in the upstream supply chain, but it is known that sourcing comes from that group of suppliers.

VCI Net Zero

[From Food & Ag Working Group IV] A Supply Shed is a group of suppliers providing functionally equivalent goods or services within a fixed and spatially defined area that is demonstrably part of a company’s supply chain. The Supply Shed includes all suppliers within designated boundaries, regardless of their practices or segmentation.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From Food & Ag Working Group IV] A Supply Shed is a group of suppliers providing functionally equivalent goods or services within a fixed and spatially defined area that is demonstrably part of a company’s supply chain. The Supply Shed includes all suppliers within designated boundaries, regardless of their practices or segmentation.

Verra & SustainCERT

[SustainCERT, SC verification requirements for value chain interventions v.9, 2024] Broadly defined as a group of suppliers in a specifically defined market (e.g., at a national or sub-national level) providing similar goods and services (commodities) that can be demonstrated to be within the company's supply chain. This approach caters to situations where a company may not be able to directly trace sourcing to a specific upstream supplier, but it is known (i.e., can be demonstrated) that sourcing comes from a group of suppliers within a "market" from which the company sources.

Source documents

Sustainability certification system

Definitions

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

A tool to establish and track the sustainability profile of a fuel (including the fuel’s greenhouse gas emission factor).

Source documents

Sustainability declaration

Definitions

ISCC EU 203

A ‘Sustainability Declaration’ is a delivery document containing relevant information about the sustainable material that has to be issued by the supplier for each delivery of sustainable material. Producers and suppliers of sustainable fuel often use the term ‘proofs of sustainability (PoS)’ when referring to Sustainability Declarations. In the rest of this document the term ‘Sustainability Declaration’ is uniformly used.

Source documents

System of record

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The process and tools through which records that detail intervention outcomes are created and transferred to one or more reporting companies to enable claims.

Source documents

Theory of change

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[Adapted from UN Development Group Theory of Change] The Theory of Change of an Intervention depicts the causal pathways from outputs through outcomes via intermediate states towards impact. A Theory of Change is a method that explains how a given Intervention, or set of Interventions, is expected to lead to a specific change in emissions due to anthropogenic activities, drawing on a causal analysis based on available evidence, respecting of the environmental integrity definition, with an adequate level of assurance.

VCI Net Zero

The Theory of Change of an Intervention depicts the causal pathways from outputs through outcomes via intermediate states towards impact. A Theory of Change is a method that explains how a given Intervention, or set of Interventions, is expected to lead to a specific change in emissions due to anthropogenic activities, drawing on a causal analysis based on available evidence, respecting of the environmental integrity definition, with an adequate level of assurance.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

The Theory of Change of an Intervention depicts the causal pathways from outputs through outcomes via intermediate states towards impact. A Theory of Change is a method that explains how a given Intervention, or set of Interventions, is expected to lead to a specific change in emissions due to anthropogenic activities, drawing on a causal analysis based on available evidence, respecting of the environmental integrity definition, with an adequate level of assurance.

Source documents

Traceability

Definitions

GHG Protocol LSRS

The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information in the value chain of goods and services purchased or sold by the company, including upstream and downstream processes and products.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information in the value
chain of goods and services purchased or sold by the company, including upstream and
downstream processes and products.

ISCC EU 203

According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) the term ‘traceability’ describes the ability to identify and trace the origin, processing history, distribution and location of products and materials through supply chains. Traceability includes the requirement to be able to physically trace products and materials through supply chains but also to be able to tell of what products are made of and how they have been processed.

ISEAL CoC V2

The ability to track and verify the history and location of a material’s movement through defined stages of production, processing and distribution (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

SBTi CNZS V2.0

The ability to track with complete information, and
verify the history and location of a material’s
movement through every step in defined stages of
production, processing and distribution (adapted from ISEAL, 2025a).

VCI Glossary

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] Traceability is the ability to track and verify the history and location of a material’s movement through defined stages of production, processing and distribution (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

[From GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance Technical Working Group updates] The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information in the value chain of goods and services purchased or sold by the company, including upstream and downstream processes and products.

In the GHG Protocol interim traceability requirements (under development – see section 1.3.2.) two types of traceability are defined: physical traceability and impact traceability (see respective definitions in this glossary).

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From ISEAL CoC Models and Definitions, v2.0, 2025] Traceability is the ability to track and verify the history and location of a material’s movement through defined stages of production, processing and distribution (adapted from ISO 22095:2020)

[From GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance Technical Working Group updates] The ability of a company to identify, track, and collect information in the value chain of goods and services purchased or sold by the company, including upstream and downstream processes and products.

In the GHG Protocol interim traceability requirements (under development – see section 1.3.2.) two types of traceability are defined: physical traceability and impact traceability (see respective definitions in this glossary).

Verra & SustainCERT

[ISEAL Chain of Custody Models and Definitions v2, 2025] The ability to track and verify the history and location of a material’s movement through defined stages of production, processing and distribution (adapted from ISO 22095:2020).

WBCSD Avoided Emissions

The ability to identify and trace the history, distribution, location and application of products, parts and materials, to ensure the reliability of sustainability claims.

Source documents

Traceability system

Definitions

GHG Protocol LSRS

A set of procedures that allow an entity to track and record how specific materials or products move across entities and are transformed throughout their value chain, from production to processing to end use.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

A set of procedures that allow an entity to track and record how specific
materials or products move across entities and are transformed throughout their value chain,
from production to processing to end use.

VCI Glossary

[From the forthcoming GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance] A set of procedures that allow an entity to track and record how specific materials or products move across entities and are transformed throughout their value chain, from production to processing to end use.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the forthcoming GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance] A set of procedures that allow an entity to track and record how specific materials or products move across entities and are transformed throughout their value chain, from production to processing to end use.

Source documents

Traceable emissions data

No definitions available yet.

Transfer

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The process by which an intervention host shares the intervention record with a buyer.

Source documents

Transferability of impact

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[From VCI Building the case for value chain interventions: enabling credible co-claiming of impact and investments] Transferability of impact refers to the presence of mechanisms enabling potential claimants to access and utilise distributed impact. This can be achieved through various means such as credits, Impact Units, or other proxies that enable accurate attribution.

Source documents

Transferrable instrument with entitlement to claim (TIEC)

Definitions

ISO 22095-2:2026

Administrative record that is issued, tracked, retired or retained within a book and claim system, the ownership of which confers the unique right to claim consumption or use of specified characteristics.

ISO 22095-3:2026

Administrative record that is issued, tracked, retired or retained within a book and claim system, the ownership of which confers the unique right to claim consumption or use of specified characteristics.

Source documents

Unbundled booking

Definitions

BCC B&C Heavy Transport

A booking in which a solution provider books the emitter profile of a solution and the supply chain profile of that solution separately.

Source documents

Uncertainty

Definitions

GHG Protocol LSRS

"1. Quantitative definition: A measurement that characterizes the dispersion of values that could reasonably be attributed to a parameter.
2. Qualitative definition: A general and imprecise term that refers to the lack of certainty in data and methodology choices, such as the application of nonrepresentative factors or methods, incomplete data on sources and sinks, and a lack of transparency"

VCI Glossary

In general, uncertainty relates to the imperfection in data inputs (from inventory accounting and modelling efforts) used to estimate emission levels.

[From Greenhouse Gas Protocol guidance on uncertainty assessment in GHG inventories and calculating statistical parameter uncertainty] The GHG Protocol defines uncertainty as twofold: (1) Quantitative definition: Measurement that characterises the dispersion of values that could reasonably be attributed to a parameter. (2) Qualitative definition: A general and imprecise term that refers to the lack of certainty in data and methodology choices, such as the application of non-representative factors or methods, incomplete data on sources and sinks, lack of transparency etc.

VCI Net Zero

In general, uncertainty relates to the imperfection in data inputs (from inventory accounting and modelling efforts) used to estimate emission levels.

[From Greenhouse Gas Protocol guidance on uncertainty assessment in GHG inventories and calculating statistical parameter uncertainty] The GHG Protocol defines uncertainty as twofold: (1) Quantitative definition: Measurement that characterises the dispersion of values that could reasonably be attributed to a parameter. (2) Qualitative definition: A general and imprecise term that refers to the lack of certainty in data and methodology choices, such as the application of non-representative factors or methods, incomplete data on sources and sinks, lack of transparency etc.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

In general, uncertainty relates to the imperfection in data inputs (from inventory accounting and modelling efforts) used to estimate emission levels.

[From Greenhouse Gas Protocol guidance on uncertainty assessment in GHG inventories and calculating statistical parameter uncertainty] The GHG Protocol defines uncertainty as twofold: (1) Quantitative definition: Measurement that characterises the dispersion of values that could reasonably be attributed to a parameter. (2) Qualitative definition: A general and imprecise term that refers to the lack of certainty in data and methodology choices, such as the application of non-representative factors or methods, incomplete data on sources and sinks, lack of transparency etc.

Source documents

Unitization (of intervention outcomes)

Definitions

Verra & SustainCERT

[adapted from Verra S3S Program Definitions, 2015:15 & SustainCERT, 2025] The process of partitioning certified data into distinct standardized units. The S3S Program performs unitization based on one tonne of CO₂e reduced or removed as calculated in the net GHG benefit.

Source documents

Validation

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

Process for evaluating the reasonableness of the assumptions, limitations and methods that support a statement about the outcome of future activities.

ICVCM CCPs

The process of independent, third-party evaluation of a mitigation activity requesting registration under a carbon-crediting program by an accredited Validation and Verification Body (VVB) against the program provisions of the applicable carbon-crediting program.

SBTi CNZS V2.0

Confirmation of plausibility for a specific intended use or application through the provision of objective evidence that specified requirements have been fulfilled (ISO, 2020. ISO/IEC 17000).

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] In the context of carbon crediting programmes, validation refers to an assessment by a competent third-party entity of a mitigation activity requesting registration, against relevant criteria under a carbon crediting programme.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] In the context of carbon crediting programmes, validation refers to an assessment by a competent third-party entity of a mitigation activity requesting registration, against relevant criteria under a carbon crediting programme.

Source documents

Validation and verification body

Definitions

ICVCM CCPs

An independent third-party entity that is accredited for performing validation and/or verification audits. Verification and validation bodies are often also referred to as auditors.

Source documents

Value Chain

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

All of the upstream and downstream activities associated with the operations of the reporting company, including the use of sold products by consumers and the end-of-life treatment of sold products after consumer use.

GHG Protocol AMI WP

In the Scope 3 Standard , “value chain” refers to all of the upstream and
downstream activities associated with the operations of the reporting company, including the
use of sold prod

SBTi CNZS V2.0

Encompasses the activities, resources, and relationships that an undertaking uses and relies on to create its products or services, from conception to delivery, consumption, and end of life (EFRAG, 2024).

SustainCERT Credibility Framework

All upstream and downstream activities associated with the operations of the reporting company, including the use of sold products by consumers and the end-of-life treatment of sold products after consumer use.

VCI Glossary

A value chain is a series of consecutive steps that go into the creation of a finished product, from its initial design to its arrival at the customer. The chain identifies each step in the process at which value is added, including the sourcing, manufacturing, and marketing stages of its production.

[From GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope3) Standard] Value chain refers to all of the upstream and downstream activities associated with the operations of the reporting company, including the use of sold products by consumers and the end-of-life treatment of sold products after consumer use.

VCI GHG Accounting

All upstream and downstream activities associated with the operations of the reporting company, including the use of sold products by consumers and the end-of-life treatment of sold products after consumer use.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

All upstream and downstream activities associated with the operations of the reporting company, including the use of sold products by consumers and the end-of-life treatment of sold products after consumer use.

Source documents

Value Chain Abatement

Definitions

VCI Glossary

[Adapted from SBTi Glossary] Measures that companies take to prevent, reduce, or eliminate sources of GHG emissions within their value chain. Examples include reducing energy use, switching to renewable energy, and reducing chemical fertilizer use.

Source documents

Value Chain Emissions

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

Emissions from the upstream and downstream activities associated with the operations of the reporting company.

Source documents

Value Chain Intervention

Definitions

SustainCERT Credibility Framework

An umbrella term for any action that introduces a change to a Scope 3 activity. This could include a new technology, practice, or supply change (for example, to a different product input) to reduce or remove emissions. An intervention may include changes to several activities that reduce or sequester emissions in different ways and that may or may not be included within the Scope 3 inventory. An intervention can consist of one or several activities of the same or different type following the same validation and verification cycle.

Source documents

Verification

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

Process for evaluating a statement of historical data and information to determine if the statement is materially correct and conforms to criteria.

ICVCM CCPs

The process of periodic independent, third-party ex-post evaluation by a VVB of requests by a registered mitigation activity to issue carbon credits against the program provisions of the applicable carbon-crediting program.

ISO 22095-3:2026

Confirmation of a claim, through the provision of objective evidence that specified requirements have been fulfilled.

SBTi CNZS V2.0

Confirmation of the veracity of a fact, statement, or other data point through the provision of objective evidence that specified requirements have been fulfilled (adapted from ISO, 2020. ISO/IEC 17000).

VCI Net Zero

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] In the context of car- bon crediting programmes, verification is the periodic independent review and ex-post determination by a competent third-party entity of the request to issue carbon cred- its against monitored mitigation outcomes generated by a mitigation activity during a specific monitoring period, in line with relevant criteria under a carbon crediting pro- gramme.

VCI / ISEAL Traceability

[From the Nordic Code for Voluntary Use of Carbon Credits] In the context of car- bon crediting programmes, verification is the periodic independent review and ex-post determination by a competent third-party entity of the request to issue carbon cred- its against monitored mitigation outcomes generated by a mitigation activity during a specific monitoring period, in line with relevant criteria under a carbon crediting pro- gramme.

Source documents

Vintage

Definitions

AIM Platform Std

The year of intervention occurrence.

ICVCM CCPs

The calendar year in which the emission reduction or removal associated with a carbon credit took place. Because the verification process is conducted after the emission reductions or removals have occurred, carbon-crediting programs may issue carbon credits after the vintage year.

Source documents