Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard

Toby Janson-Smith and Julie Baroody17 January 2018

Introduction to SD VISta and the Project Requirements

VCS organizational overview

• Non-profit organization

Founded in 2007

Headquartered in Washington, DC, staff in Peru and Switzerland

• Develop and manage standards frameworks See: www.v-c-s.org

• Key strengths

Project experience (>1400 projects registered; 25 project types in 82 countries)

Ability to convene diverse range of stakeholders and develop workable frameworks that drive finance to high-performing projects/policies/actions

Innovation

Agenda

1. Introduction to SD VISta

2. Overview of the SD VISta Project

Requirements

3. Two key questions for this round of

consultation

4. How to provide comments in Collaborase

5. Questions & answers

A certification standard to support development of,

and attract funding to, projects that generate

significant sustainable development benefits

Introduction to SD VISta

Attributes of SD VISta

• Flexible framework for monitoring, reporting and

verifying sustainable development impacts

• Scope: any kind of project activity (including activities

arranged as a program) that aim to deliver sustainable

development benefits

• Applicable to projects in developing and developed

countries

• User-defined claims and potential assets

SD VISta structure

People &

Prosperity:

Impacts on

Stakeholders

SD VISta

Asset(s)

Project Design

• Project SD

Objectives, including

one or more SDG

Targets

• Without Project SD

Scenario

• Stakeholder

Engagement

• Safeguards

• Legal Status

Climate Benefits

1) SD VISta optional

climate module, 2)

Verified Carbon

Standard or 3) Other

GHG accounting

framework

2) VCU

3) Other

GHG Credit

Planet:

Impacts on

Natural Capital

& Ecosystem

Services

User-defined SD

VISta or SDG

Claim(s)

1) SD VISta

Climate Claim

Key

Required element

Optional element

Claim

Asset

Overview of the project design and impact delivery process

Identify project sustainable

development (SD) objective(s)

Select at least one SDG Target and

corresponding SDG Indicator(s) to

demonstrate the project’s contribution

Design and implement activities to benefit people and

prosperity, ensuring safeguards for all stakeholders

Design and implement activities to benefit the planet, ensuring safeguards

for natural capital and ecosystem services

Project impact

Monitor and report impacts

Third-party validate and verify that project

design and implementation deliver

SD benefits(every 1-5 years)

Optional: quantify, register and transact

SD VISta assets

Ensure sustainable future for Kyrgz

farming by rehabilitation of

irrigation systems in nearby mountains

and conservation of mountain

ecosystems

2.3.1 Volume of production per labor unit by size of farm

(9) Proportion of the rural population who have easy access to

irrigation

(13) Design and implementation of

community-managed mountain

infrastructure strategy

15.4.1 Coverage by protected areas of important sites for mountain diversity

• Better irrigated farms increased production food security and income

• Sustainable water access enhanced resilience to drought

• More productive farms and new community managed protected areas less upslope creep of agriculture

• Irrigation infrastructure less erosion less land degradation risk

SD objective

Associated SDG

Indicators

(official & unofficial)

Benefits for

people and

prosperity

Continued on next slide

Example: Irrigation systems rehabilitation near Tokmok,

Kyrgyz Republic—project design/impacts

Project impact

Benefits for

the planet

Take stock of , and account for, original and with-project situation regarding:

• Water access of rural population; among them, ethnic Dungan farmers

• Availability of water from snowmelt

• Condition of intact mountain ecosystems

• Productivity of agricultural land in valleys

Validate project design and verify project claims around, but not limited to, SDG Targets:

• 2.3: Increase the volume of production by X tons per year

• 9.1: Increase the proportion of the rural population who have easy access to irrigation by Y%

• 13.1: Mountain infrastructure strategy established

• 15.4: Z hectares of important mountain ecosystem protected

• SD VISta asset: credit for additional water volume delivered (unit=liters)

Monitoring and

reporting

Example, continued: Irrigation systems rehabilitation near

Tokmok, Kyrgyz Republic—SD VISta outputs

Validation and

verification

Asset registration and

transaction

SD VISta value proposition

• SD VISta could:

Scale up existing initiatives

Unlock new sources of finance

Catalyze development of new projects

Focus resources on high-performing efforts

• Users: actors looking for credible, standardized

assessment of sustainable development impact

Demand: corporates, investors, DFIs, donors

Supply: developers of sustainable development,

carbon and other pay-for-performance projects

Inclusive, multi-stakeholder development process

Develop first draft of Project Requirements

First public consultation

Develop second draft Project

Requirements, first draft Program Guide

Consultations with SDAC

Finalize and

release SD

VISta

Program

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

20182017

Convene Standard Development Advisory Committee (SDAC)

Second public consultation

Stakeholder engagement

Consultations with SDAC

Pilots

SD VISta Program Guide

Requirements Documents

Project Requirements

Templates

SD VISta Project Requirements

Project design

• Concepts:

Opportunities and threats to benefits are identified

and managed

Stakeholders are engaged through effective

consultation and participation

Feedback and grievance redress procedures are

established

Project is based on an accepted legal framework and

recognizes, respects and supports rights to lands,

territories and resources

− Including the statutory and customary rights of Indigenous

Peoples and others within its stakeholders

Benefits for people and prosperity

• Net positive impacts for stakeholders

• Concepts:

Original conditions of stakeholder well-being are

described

Changes in stakeholder well-being resulting from

project activities are assessed

Project generates net positive impacts for

stakeholders

Benefits for the planet

• Net positive impacts for natural capital and

ecosystem services

• Concepts:

Original conditions of natural capital and ecosystem

services are described

Changes in conditions of natural capital and

ecosystem services resulting from project activities

are assessed

Project generates net positive impacts for natural

capital and ecosystem services

Optional: SD VISta claims and assets

• SD VISta claim: specific net positive sustainable development impact directly resulting from project design and implementation Claims can be used to describe aspects of underlying

assets (e.g., Verified Carbon Units or Renewable Energy Certificates)

• SD VISta asset: a user-defined environmental or social unit directly resulting from implementation that is recorded, and potentially transacted, in the VCS registry system Methodologies are required for SD VISta assets

− Could come from other programs (e.g., W+)

SD VISta assets can be stacked/bundled with assets from other programs (as long as double-claiming can be avoided)

1. Is the connection with the Sustainable Development Goals too weak, strong enough or too strong/constraining?

2. How much should SD VISta focus on marginalized and/or vulnerable people?

Key questions of this consultation

Connection with the Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs)

a. Does SD VISta enable projects to properly

demonstrate their contributions to the SDGs?

b. Do you expect the kinds of claims and assets that SD

VISta could generate to be sufficient for your reporting

needs?

c. Does SD VISta omit or misrepresent any important and

actionable elements of the 2030 Agenda or the SDGs?

Focus on marginalized and/or vulnerable people

a. Do you think it should be mandatory or optional for projects to

benefit marginalized and/or vulnerable people?

b. Exclude good projects?

If demonstrating benefits to a marginalized and/or vulnerable group is

mandatory, might good projects be excluded that otherwise should be

able to use SD VISta?

a. Optional achievement?

If demonstrating benefits to a marginalized and/or vulnerable group is an

optional achievement (through an added level of certification) and

provides special recognition, do you think the marginalized and/or

vulnerable people requirements included in this draft version of

the Project Requirements are sufficiently strong?

Collaborase is an online software that supports an unlimited number of reviewers and allows reviewers to easily provide comments and navigate documents

https://collaborase.com/sd-vista-project-requirements

Public consultation via Collaborase

Accessing the documents

…

Your view in Collaborase

Guidance tab

Survey question

How to comment in Collaborase (1 of 3)

How to comment in Collaborase (2 of 3)

How to comment in Collaborase (3 of 3)

How to view comments in Collaborase

How to reply to comments

Collating and reviewing comments

Public consultation closes on 4 March 2018

Questions?

VCS

One Thomas Circle, NW

Suite 1050

Washington, DC 20005

www.v-c-s.org

Thank you

Send questions to Julie

Baroody,

jbaroody@v-c-s.org

SD VISta Standard Development Advisory Committee

Stakeholder

Group

Name Organization Location

Civil Society Anna Lehman Climate Policy and Investment Advisory London

Alyson Slater GRI Amsterdam

Beto Borges Forest Trends San Francisco

Inter-

governmental

organization

Marcos Neto UNDP Istanbul

Massamba Thioye UNFCCC Bonn

Ash Sharma NAMA Facility/DANIDA Berlin

Charles Ehrhart Adaptation Fund (consultant) Auckland

Eduardo Ferreira World Bank DC

Gareth Phillips AfDB Abidjan

Government Ndivhuho Raphulu National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa South Africa

Priscilla Miranda Mexican Agency of Int’l. Development Cooperation Hidalgo

Investors Femi Oye SME FUNDS Lagos

Emma Knott Ecosphere Capital Partners LLP London

Project

Proponent

Ben Massie Natural Capital Partners Grand Rapids

Swapan Mehra IORA Capital Dehli

Tom Morton ClimateCare Nairobi

Standard/

Assessment

Body

Javier Castro TUV SUD Munich

Edwin Aalders DNV GL Oslo

John Drexhage VCS Board Ottawa