Riverse Carbon Credits

All Riverse Carbon Credits are issued ex post, after the verification process.

Two main types of RCCs are issued by Riverse: removal RCCs and avoidance RCCs. Both types are measured by calculating the difference in GHG emissions of the project scenario compared to the baseline scenario, following the approach outlined in ISO 14064-2:2019. See details in the GHG Reduction Quantification section.

Removal RCC

Removal Riverse Carbon Credits come from projects that physically remove carbon (present in short-lifetime biomass or in the atmosphere) and convert it into a long-term chemical and biological stable compound (i.e. high resistance to degradation process when placed in the environment). Carbon sequestration must be ensured for a minimum of 100 years in order to qualify as a Removal credit in the Riverse registry.

Removal RCCs are calculated by evaluating the removal projects’ net GHG emissions (i.e. carbon removal and emissions) compared to the baseline scenario’s (i.e. what would have occurred in the absence of the project). See more details on choosing a baseline scenario in the Baseline Scenario section.

Removal RCCs are issued on Riverse’s registry under the mechanism label “removal”. They represent one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent captured and stored: 1 removal RCC = 1 .

Avoidance RCC

Avoidance Riverse Carbon Credits represent avoided GHGs that would have been emitted without the project’s intervention. These RCCs are typically generated by projects that either replace fossil fuels with cleaner energy sources or replace products with lower-emitting alternatives.

Avoidance RCCs are calculated by comparing GHG emissions of the project to the ones of a reference or baseline scenario that would have occurred without the project.

Avoidance RCCs are classified on Riverse’s registry under the mechanism label “avoidance”. They represent one avoided tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent: 1 avoidance RCC = 1 .

Credit pools

Credit pools are defined as a group of Riverse Carbon Credits from the same project, mechanism and vintage year. Each transaction in the Riverse Registry may cover credits from one credit pool. For example, separate transactions are required to retire credits from two different credit pools.

A project is uniquely described on the registry by:

• Project registry ID

• Project name

• Name of the Project Developer

• Location

• Host country

• Type of mechanism (avoidance and/or removal)

• Crediting period

• Validation body

• Other labels where relevant (e.g. CORSIA, Article 6, CCP…)

Each RCC is uniquely described on the registry by:

• unique identifier

• Project registry ID

• Vintage year (year of verified activity in verification)

• Type of mechanism (avoidance or removal)

• Methodology ID

• Riverse Standard Rules version number

• Host country (inherited from Project)

• Other labels where relevant (e.g. CORSIA, Article 6, CCP…)

RCC status on the registry

Riverse Carbon Credits and provisional credits can have different statuses on the Riverse Registry:

Status	Definition
Provisional	Provisional credits are estimated credits from projects that are validated but not yet verified. They give visibility on the volume of expected credits, which enables pre-purchase agreements. They may result from: Validated projects that are still in the planning phase, and have completed a validation audit, and ex-ante estimates of avoided/removed emissions. Continuous issuance projects that continuously upload data to the Impact Certification Platform to estimate credit volumes frequently (e.g. monthly, weekly), but only undergo verification audits e.g. annually.
Verified	Riverse Carbon Credits are issued ex-post as after the verification audit at the end of the monitoring period if the project meets the expected KII, with the production and emissions as estimated. See Under- / Overachievement for more details. They appear as “verified” on the registry.
Canceled	Riverse Carbon Credits can be “canceled” if the verification audit demonstrates that the previous ex-post credits were not legitimate, or if a reversal event is reported (for removal RCCs).
Retired	Riverse Carbon Credits are “retired” when a buyer claims them, they can’t be transacted anymore and are considered permanently used. They still appear on the Riverse Registry for traceability, with the label “retired”.

Verified RCCs may have labels, which are supplementary information and do not change the inherent status of a verified avoidance or removal RCC. Labels may cover, for example:

• Permanence horizons: e.g. 100 or 1000 year permanence for removal RCCs

• Compliance with trading schemes: e.g. CORSIA eligible, Article 6 eligible

• Accredited: e.g. ICROA accredited, ICVCM accredited

Provisional credits & Pre-purchase agreements

Provisional credits are estimated upon project validation for the projected volume of emission avoidance/removal over the project’s crediting period. They are conservatively calculated.

Pre-purchase agreements are signed agreements between the PD and a buyer with defined volumes and prices of Riverse Carbon Credits. These can be made once provisional credits have been estimated and the project has been validated.

Provisional credits are only used to track pre-purchase agreements for buyers. Their property rights can not be transferred to the buyer until the mitigation activity occurs and they are verified (hence become RCCs).