Verification Process
The American Carbon Registry is the leading authority in reliable verification of carbon project ratings. With regular, rigorous audits and data analysis, their process ensures accuracy for certified projects.
- Nearly three decades of market leadership as the world’s first carbon registry
- 63 million Emission Reduction Tons (ERTs) issued to date
- International Standards Organization (ISO) methodology
- CORSIA compliant
Setting the standard for carbon removal verification.
GreenTrees upholds rigorous standards and is certified by the esteemed American Carbon Registry (ACR). Every analysis has been rigorously evaluated and monitored, allowing clients to trust that every assessment will be reliable. Furthermore, audited reports are consistently generated for maximum transparency at all times throughout the process. It’s this commitment to excellence that makes us a leader in carbon verification evaluations.
What’s Involved in a Verification:
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600+ GIS Maps
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2,300 Documents
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7.8m Data Points
Our Step-by-Step Verification Process
Stand Verification
A GreenTrees verification begins with the measurement of our stands that is in conformance with our field protocol and is robust enough to achieve or exceed a 90/10 confidence interval set by the American Carbon Registry (ACR).
- Over our last 12 verifications, GreenTrees has exceeded this standard each time.
- Our team reviews all the documentation and ownership records of our 600+ landowners and then conducts a Quality Assurance/Quality Control process to ensure.
- After we complete this process, only then, are we ready to begin verification.
Approved ACR Verifier
Verifications begin with the selection of an approved ACR Verifier. These Verifiers hold several accreditations from bodies such as the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO)and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). From the opening meeting to the issued report to ACR it usually takes seven to nine months (and at times up to 14 or more months) to complete successfully. This is due to the time required to go through documents, calculations, and spatial data and apply the relevant standards and methodologies.
With GreenTrees, this entails well over 2,300 documents, several hundred plots, and the ESRI ArcGIS spatial data for all our 600+ landowners.
Peer Review Assessment
Registry Review
Once the report goes to ACR, the Registry conducts a final review of the verification. This step takes 1-2 months to complete. Once this fourth and final review is completed, ACR issues the corresponding verified tons to the GreenTrees account.
The bottom line: After these four levels of assurance and audit are performed, then and only then, can GreenTrees transact and move volume to buyers’ accounts or retire on their behalf.
Why It Matters
It matters because we want to do our part to create a sustainable future for our kids, grandkids, and beyond. A future that requires us to, as we like to say, Revalue The Earth Because The World Matters. We accomplish this by:
- Reducing emissions to zero and then deploying Negative Emission Technologies (NET), like trees, to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Realizing trees are Mother Nature’s technology for removing carbon from the atmosphere. - Drawing a distinction between what is a Carbon Reduction (i.e. REDD+, IFM, and Renewables) versus a Carbon Removal (i.e. Afforestation/Reforestation).
- Using a sports analogy, REDD+ is playing goal-line defense, IFM is an attacking defense, and Afforestation/Reforestation is pure climate offense. We need a balanced approach!
- Deploying an AND+ mindset – Renewables AND Nature + all the co-benefits to secure our future.
- Understanding that nature operates in a fractal world, not the geometry of straight lines, right angles, and smooth edges of the built environment.
- Accepting that this fractal world of Nature is made up of small holdings of land.
