ERS stands for Ecosystem Restoration Standard. It is a carbon credit program for the voluntary carbon market. The certifying company, also called ERS, operates this standard.
STANDARD OVERVIEW
Reinterpreting the role and responsibility of certification on the VCMs.
ERS assesses and monitors projects across three pillars on a continuous basis.
Ecological RECOVERY
- Restoration Plan: Project design must be informed by assessments of reference sites, baseline conditions and degradation drivers. Restoration techniques must be adapted to local conditions and the current state of degradation.
- Adaptive Management: Projects must seek the highest level of ecological recovery possible. Projects monitor progress annually and adapt restoration plans every 5 years.
- Biodiversity: Projects must restore habitat capacity and connectivity between ecosystems. Projects may only plant native species, in line with the composition and structure of reference ecosystems. Safeguards and guidelines to promote biodiversity at the ecosystem, species, and genetic levels must be followed.
carbon
- Additionality: Projects must be financially, legally, and environmentally additional.
- Permanence: Project permanence is monitored by ERS in perpetuity. Reversals are compensated by the Buffer Pool during the 40-year duration of the projects.
- Leakage: Leakage is monitored quarterly by ERS. Developers must take action to mitigate leakage around the project area.
- Double Counting: Credits are registered on a third-party registry.
- Conservative: Biomass modelling is based on the latest science. Carbon calculations are conservative and based on dynamic baselines.
LIVELIHOODS
- Stakeholder Plan: Project design is informed by stakeholders’ needs and aspirations, integrating cultural heritage and traditional knowledge.
- Adaptive Management: Project activities must generate improved livelihoods for the project’s stakeholders. Projects monitor progress annually and adapt project plans every 5 years.
- Community Empowerement: Projects must promote community well-being, fair wages, and gender equality, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) principles must be followed.
- Transparency: Projects must disclose budgets and revenue shares publicly on the ERS registry.
Introducing Restoration Units
Restoration Units are tradable units designed to value the multiple impacts generated by ecosystem restoration. These units represent the removal of 1tCO2e associated with biodiversity and livelihood benefits.
PRU
Projected Restoration Units
- Sequestration is expected to be achieved in the future
- Issued once the validation audit is completed
- Cannot be retired
VRU
Verified Restoration Units
- Sequestration verified by an accredited third-party
- Converted once the verification audit is completed
- Can be retired
How it Works
1. FEASIBILITY STUDY
We perform bank-level KYC/AML and verify Project Developers' track-record. A preliminary assessment of the project area, its stakeholders and its additionality is conducted.
2. ASSESSMENT
For each pillar, the Project Developer carries out initial assessments and establishes objectives and interventions. Our team also models forest growth and estimates projected carbon units over a 40-year period.
3. VALIDATION
Projects begin their issuance period after the successful completion of an on-site assessment. These assessments are performed by independent third-party auditors accredited by ERS.
4. MRV
Throughout the project's lifetime, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification are conducted using digital MRV technologies, including the ERS Mobile App and remote sensing models. Monitoring occurs quarterly, reporting and verification occur annually.
5. AUDITING
In-situ audits are performed at least every five years by independent third-party auditors accredited by ERS.
Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT IS ERS?
WHAT DOES ERS DO?
Using the Standard, the certifying company certifies ecosystem restoration projects for the voluntary carbon market.
WHY A NEW STANDARD ON CARBON MARKETS?
Two billion hectares of land need to be restored. The VCM is an important pathway for financing these efforts. Unfortunately, restoration projects remain under-certified and underfunded (today, only 3% of credits on the VCM come from ARR projects, of which only a fraction are ecosystem restoration projects). ERS aims to scale the presence of restoration projects on the VCM to drive more financing towards these globally important initiatives.
WHO RUNS ERS?
ERS’ company operations are run by the Executive team. The Standard is governed by the Technical Advisory Board, an independent body responsible for making ultimate decisions related to the Standard. This Board is under construction; it will be fully operational to review the Standard before ERS starts certifying projects.
WHO FUNDS ERS?
ERS is funded by private capital from investors such as LocalGlobe or Raise and payment for certification and monitoring services.