In plain English
PV Climate Carbon Standard
PV Climate Carbon Standard is a removal method run by Plan Vivo. People often refer to it by its code, PV Climate. It works in the community forestry space.
In short
Community-led carbon removals from agroforestry and restoration. Designed to stack with PV Nature biodiversity credits from the same area.
What it is
PV Climate is Plan Vivo's carbon standard for community and smallholder led nature-based projects. The Project Requirements set out eligibility, land tenure, additionality, safeguards, and rules for activities such as ecosystem restoration, avoided degradation, and sustainable land use. Certified projects issue and sell Plan Vivo Certificates to fund project activities and local communities. Each Plan Vivo Certificate represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent reduced or removed.
What it rewards
The reward is a credit called a Plan Vivo Certificate (PVC). One credit stands for one tonne of carbon dioxide kept out of the atmosphere (or taken back out of it). One tonne of CO₂-equivalent verified-and-issued. A whole period of work is issued as one batch of credits at a time, in the same way a registry issues a batch.
What gets measured
To earn PVC credits, a project has to measure and prove a few things. An independent reviewer checks the evidence before any credits are issued.
The baseline: what would most likely have happened to the land or the emissions if the project had not gone ahead.
The activity data for the period, with clear units and a clear source for every number.
The net result actually achieved, checked by an independent reviewer before any credits are issued.
Who takes part
Standard Registry. Owns the policy, approves participants, anchors each issuance to its evidence.
Project Proponent. Registers the project and submits monitoring reports.
Validation & Verification Body. Independently validates the design and verifies monitored data.
How it works
- 1
The project team registers the project and its plan.
- 2
An independent reviewer checks that the plan is sound and that the benefit is real and would not have happened anyway.
- 3
The team looks after the site and measures the agreed indicators over time.
- 4
The independent reviewer verifies those measurements.
- 5
Credits are issued for the verified result, and a buyer can retire a credit to claim the benefit once.
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