What’s new in version 1.1

Key dates

Version 1.1 approved	24 September 2025
Applies from	7 March 2026
Transition period	One year
Previous version	1.0, approved 16 September 2021

At a glance

Change	Version 1.0	Version 1.1
Micro scale	Up to 20,000 tCO2e a year	Up to 10,000 tCO2e a year
Small scale	Above 20,000 to 100,000 tCO2e	Above 10,000 to 60,000 tCO2e
Large scale	Above 100,000 tCO2e	Above 60,000 tCO2e
Who can audit micro-scale projects	Empanelled VVBs	Empanelled VVBs, or Independent VVB Experts (IVVEs)
Validation deadline, non-AFOLU	Listing within 1 year and validation within 2 years of the start date	Validation within 3 years, or 4 years where a new CR-I methodology took 2 years to validate
Validation deadline, AFOLU	Listing within 2 years and validation within 5 years	Listing within 5 years and validation within 6 years
VVB eligibility	CDM DOE; Verra VCS; ISO 14065 via an IAF member	Adds UNFCCC Article 6.4 accreditation, ISO 17029, and GAC MLA members
Methodologies built on LCA	Not provided for	Allowed on EPD principles with a third-party-verified LCA (ISO 14044); not assessed by VVBs
Sectoral scopes	15	16, adding carbon capture and storage; afforestation and reforestation also covers grassland management

New: Independent VVB Experts for micro-scale projects

Micro-scale projects can now be validated and verified by qualified individual experts, working jointly with another IVVE or a VVB. An IVVE needs ISO 14064 training, at least three years and five assignments of GHG validation or verification experience, and must pass NCCF’s CR-I evaluation. IVVEs follow conflict-of-interest rules, use the CR-I report templates, are observed in shadow audits on their first assignments and re-qualify every year. They cannot audit Programmes of Activities. See Independent VVB Experts.

Smaller scale thresholds

The thresholds are now 10,000 and 60,000 tCO2e a year instead of 20,000 and 100,000. Scale decides the registration fee, the issuance cap, automatic additionality, the safeguards requirement and whether an IVVE can be used. The simplified route for micro-scale projects is unchanged: automatic additionality, a preliminary study instead of a full ESIA, no safeguard reporting in each monitoring report, and an optional site visit. See Project scale.

More time to validate

Validation deadlines are longer, and a project waiting for a new CR-I methodology gets an extra year. The Registration and Issuance Procedure v1.0 still shows the version 1.0 periods. See Start date and deadlines.

Broader VVB eligibility

Bodies accredited under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4 mechanism, and bodies accredited to ISO 17029 through an IAF or GAC MLA member, can now apply for empanelment. See Eligibility and empanelment.

New: LCA-based methodologies

A methodology can now be developed on Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) principles, backed by a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) verified by a third party under ISO 14044.

• The baseline can use an approved LCA value calculated with recognised LCA software.
• Emission reductions are quantified using only an approved EPD value.
• LCA-based methodologies are not assessed by VVBs. Other new methodologies still need two independent VVB assessments.

What has not changed

The exclusion list, crediting periods, the four-SDG rule, the Delegate Entity requirement, methodology deviations, IPCC AR4 Global Warming Potentials, the rules for external projects, the materiality thresholds and the VVB categories are the same as in version 1.0.

Sources

• Carbon Standard v1.1, cover page and sections 2, 4.6, 9.5, 9.8, 16.1.6, 16.2.8, 16.2.10 and 16.2.14
• Validation and Verification Standard v1.1, sections 8 and 9
• Carbon Standard v1.0 and Validation and Verification Standard v1.0, on the Standards page