When Does a Carbon Project Really Begin?

As part of Eco Sustainability’s participation in Verra’s Version 5 technical consultation on the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), we weighed in on one of those technical details that actually matters a lot: when exactly a carbon project is considered to have “started.”

It sounds like bureaucracy, but the definition of a project start date affects when credits can be issued and whether they reflect genuine climate benefits. Right now, the rules are inconsistent across methodologies. Some count planning steps. Others treat early pilot activities as the start. That patchwork creates confusion for developers and opens the risk of credits being claimed too early.

Verra’s move to separate the project start date from the initial crediting period date is a good step. It creates a cleaner framework and avoids the mixing of two very different concepts. But there is still a lot of grey area. Take reforestation as an example. Does the project start when the land is fenced, when the ground is prepared, or when the first seedlings go into the soil? Without activity-specific guidance, developers and auditors will continue to interpret these rules differently.

Pilots are another tricky case. Even small trials, like a test plot of trees or a limited wetland rewetting, can permanently change land use or trigger benefit-sharing arrangements with communities. These changes affect the baseline scenario, even if the emission reductions look small at first. If the rules don’t capture this, we risk undercounting the true climate impact of these early actions.

What we argued in our consultation feedback is simple. A start date should only be triggered by clear, on-the-ground interventions that move the project away from business as usual. Desk work, feasibility studies, and early stakeholder meetings should not start the clock. At the same time, once physical actions have begun, the system needs clarity on which actions matter most.

This may feel like fine print, but it is the fine print that determines whether a credit is credible. By defining start dates more clearly, Verra can improve consistency across projects and, more importantly, strengthen trust that every issued credit represents a real step toward climate progress.

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