VVBs must be accredited by Riverse in order to validate DPDs for Riverse-issued credits. To be accredited, VVBs must:
Upon receipt of the VVB application form, Riverse reviews the information provided and responds once the review is complete. Riverse rejects applications where it determines that the applicant does not possess the required competencies.
Upon application approval, Riverse asks the VVB to submit a signed copy of the Riverse Conflict of Interest Policy, to ensure all parties respect Riverse’s independence criteria.
Once the Riverse VVB Agreement is drawn up and signed, the VVB can begin conducting audits under Riverse programs. The VVB organization is added as an approved VVB on Riverse’s website.
Projects eventually choose their own validators and verifiers and pay them directly. Riverse Standard remains independent from this process.
VVB accreditation is valid for a duration of 3 years.
The audit process is designed to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of projects under the Riverse Standard. The audit focuses on several critical aspects:
A site audit is mandatory within two years of the project’s crediting period start date and/or before the second verification audit. This punctual site audit is complementary to the annual operations audits, which are checked during verification via documents and photos.
The goal of the site audit is to confirm that:
Projects that issue more than 10,000 credits per year must undergo an in-person site audit. Otherwise, a remote audit is allowed because 1) it eases the time and cost burdens of project developers and VVBs and 2) it is satisfactory for the industrial projects, which usually consist of small, unchanging, easily documentable sites.
Once the project has undergone validation, it transitions to the verification phase with a designated Validation and Verification Body (VVB). The primary objectives of VVB verification are to ascertain the project's ongoing integrity, eligibility, and alignment with the initial projections. Verification is done for each year of the crediting period.
This involves a thorough:
The output of this verification will be used to verify and issue the expected amount of credits, cancel (in case of underachievement) or issue additional credit (in case of overachievement).
This ensures that the credits generated genuinely reflect the project's carbon mitigation impact. The VVB team must follow the procedures outlined in the “Annual monitoring & verification” section of the Procedures Manual.