The third version of the CCB standards was published in 2017 and included a number of updates to ensure development approaches are socially fair, environmentally competitive and economically viable. the version 3.1, in turn, brings minor adjustments to the criteria compared to the previous version, seeking to make the standards even more accurate and comprehensive.
Among the main objectives of the CCB Standards are the promotion of projects that guarantee the preservation of ecosystems and the maintenance of ecosystem services, improving the living conditions of local communities and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These patterns are widely used by investors, governments and civil society organizations to evaluate development projects and promote practices.
Climate
The “Climate” section is intended to demonstrate the positive net climate benefits of a project and not to claim units of reductions and removals of greenhouse gas emissions (GEE) that can be used as offsets.
To assess adaptation to climate change, projects must demonstrate that they are identifying and managing climate risks and that they are implementing measures to increase the resilience of natural systems and local communities. The document also establishes criteria to assess community inclusion in climate risk management..
These criteria are based on international best practices and include a series of measures to promote energy efficiency., the use of renewable energy sources and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the project value chain.
Among the main criteria of the climate topic are:
- Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions: projects must seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout their value chain, from the production of raw materials to the disposal of the final product. For that, it is necessary to adopt energy efficiency measures, use renewable energy sources, implement cleaner technologies and reduce resource waste;
- Adaptation to climate change: projects must also take into account the impacts of climate change and adopt measures to adapt to them. That includes, for example, the implementation of water resources management measures, the use of more sustainable agricultural practices and the implementation of waste management measures;
- Monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions: projects must measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions across their entire value chain, so that they can be evaluated and compared with other similar projects. This allows investors, governments and other stakeholders can make informed decisions about where to invest their resources.
CL1. Climate Scenario in the Absence of Project
The CL1 criterion of the CCB Standards v3.1 document describes the climate scenario that would occur in the absence of the development project assessed by the CCB standards. In other words, this topic establishes a baseline scenario to assess the impact of the project on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change. Thus, the only indicator in the section is to estimate the total GHG emissions within the project area in the land use scenario in the absence of the project, using an approved or defensible methodological approach.
In the absence of the project scenario, it is permissible for the analysis to exclude GHG emissions from sources such as biomass burning, fossil fuel combustion, synthetic fertilizers and exclude GHG emissions other than carbon dioxide (CO2), such as methane gases (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O), when this can be justified as conservative. The analysis of GHG emissions or removals should include carbon pools that are expected to increase significantly in the no-project scenario.
CL2. Positive Liquid Climate Impacts
The document's CL2 criterion establishes criteria for assessing a project's positive net climate impacts. In other words, this topic seeks to verify whether the project effectively contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change.
To assess a project's positive net climate impacts, the CL2 topic considers factors such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the adoption of sustainable natural resource management practices and the contribution to adapting to climate change.
Among the indicators, the first refers to estimating the total expected GHG emissions from land use activities within the project area in the project land use scenario, using an approved or defensible methodological approach. The second indicator concerns the demonstration of the positive net climate impact of the project. This impact is the difference between the total GHG emissions or removals in the no-project scenario (including CO2 and non-CO2 GHG emissions) and total GHG emissions or removals resulting from project activities, minus any project-related negative climate impacts outside the project area.
CL3. Climate Impacts Outside the Project Area (leaks)
Criterion CL3 deals with climate impacts that occur outside the project area, known as leaks, and establishes measures to mitigate them. The aim is to consider all possible project-related greenhouse gas emissions and reduce their impact on local communities and the environment..
Displays three indicators, the first of which refers to the determination of expected leakage types and estimation of possible increases in GHG emissions due to project activities. The second concerns the description of the measures taken to mitigate leaks. The third indicates that non-CO2 emissions should be included if they have the potential to account for more than 20% of total leakage emissions (in terms of CO2-equivalent) after procedures to include or exclude non-CO2 emissions.
CL4. Climate Impact Monitoring
Criterion CL4 consists of assessing changes (inside and outside the project area) in carbon compartments, project emissions and project-related non-CO2 GHG emissions.
the indicator 1 concerns the development and implementation of a plan to monitor changes in relevant carbon pools, Non-CO2 GHG and sources of emissions and leaks. It is worth mentioning that the sources of emissions to be monitored must include any sources that must cumulatively contribute more than 20% of total GHG emissions in the project scenario. The second indicator addresses the dissemination of the monitoring plan and any monitoring results conducted in accordance with the monitoring plan, ensuring that they are publicly available on the internet and that summaries are communicated to communities and other stakeholders by appropriate means.
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