Projects change land management or restore grasslands to protect and increase soil carbon. The method accounts for changes in soil carbon associated with these activities.
Buffer pool: the methodology sets rules for it (VCS Standard v4.7, p. 9). CarbonMeld reads it in the project's documents. At the listing stage (under development), Verra asks a draft project description without its non-permanence risk section (Verra, «Registration and Issuance Process» v4.6, 16 Oct 2024, §3.1.3, p7). CarbonMeld then adds no buffer flag. CM-F-VM0021-BUFFER
A confirmed investment analysis A-INVEST
The documents show a project-level additionality test, the validation confirmed it, and it is an investment analysis (a numeric test of the project's finances with and without carbon revenue).
Leakage not addressed (forest and land) Q-LEAKAGE-NOT-ADDRESSED
Forest, wetland, peat, grassland and soil carbon: the documents read do not address leakage. Outside REDD+ and reforestation, the rule applies only where the methodology requires a leakage assessment. At the listing stage, the rule does not apply if the programme's listing form has no section on leakage. CarbonMeld applies this rule only where a check of the documents has confirmed its condition; without that check, the rule takes no points.
Where carbon is stored: the permanence start P-START
CarbonMeld scores permanence only for projects that store carbon. Forest projects start from CCQI's grade of the programme on criterion 3.2. CCQI grades this criterion by programme, so its grade applies to every methodology of the programme. Where CCQI does not grade the programme, permanence starts at the neutral 5.0: the CDM's grade does not stand in for another programme's approach to permanence. Direct air capture with storage, biogenic emissions capture with storage, other geological storage and biochar start at the top, 8.0. The EU classes these types as permanent carbon removals. Enhanced weathering also starts at 8.0. It shares a family with direct air capture. This start is our own judgement. Concrete carbonation, ocean alkalinity, buried biomass and long-lived materials start at the neutral 5.0. These types have no class in a public source.
Forests: CCQI's grade of the programme.
No legal requirement for the activity: the methodology sets rules for it. Our current method does not assess it. CM-F-VM0021-REGULATORY-SURPLUS
Social safeguards and consent of communities (FPIC): any such rules come from the programme, not the methodology. Our current method does not assess it. CM-F-VM0021-SAFEGUARDS-FPIC
The criterion does not apply to this methodology. Our current method never counts it as a gap.
The general rules apply as well. Read the general rules.
The rules of methodology v2.2, as they were: the archived v2.2 page.
Browse 3 published projects using VM0021, listed alphabetically. There is no ranking for this methodology yet: it appears here automatically once 5 of its projects not in the pipeline or under validation are rated. Open a project to view its registry details and the analysis available for that project.
In CarbonMeld's data, VM0021 projects are on 2 registries: Regen Standard (2) and Verra (1). Being listed on a registry is not the same as being registered: the «Registered» column counts the projects each registry shows as registered, and credits are issued only after each verification.
| Registry | Projects | Registered | Projects list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regen Standard | 2 | 0 | See the list |
| Verra (VCS) | 1 | 0 | See the list |
Counts of project records in CarbonMeld's data, with or without a CarbonMeld analysis. «Registered» counts the records whose current registry status is «registered», as last read (15 November 2026); projects in a later status, such as awaiting verification approval, late to verify or completed, are not in that column.
