• Each Scope 3 Unit will represent one tonne of CO2 equivalent reduced or removed within a corporate value chain.
• The framework creates independent certification for value chain climate projects, addressing a gap in corporate emissions accounting.
• Initial methodologies cover agriculture and low-carbon concrete, with forestry, industrial fuels, super-pollutants and refrigeration planned.

Verra has launched a new framework to quantify, verify and certify climate action within corporate value chains, targeting one of the hardest areas of corporate decarbonization.

The Scope 3 Standard (S3S) Program will allow climate projects to generate Scope 3 Units. Each unit represents one tonne of CO2 equivalent reduced or removed within a corporate value chain.

The program aims to give companies an independent system for measuring the impact of investments made beyond their own operations. It could also direct more corporate finance toward suppliers and other parts of value chains where emissions are often concentrated.

Scope 3 emissions typically account for more than 75% of a company’s total carbon footprint. They include indirect emissions from suppliers, customers and other value chain activities. More than 40% of the world’s largest public companies have net-zero targets that include Scope 3 emissions.

Building a market for value chain action

Until now, companies have lacked a comprehensive independent system for certifying emission reductions and removals generated through investments within their value chains.

Verra CEO Mandy Rambharos said: “For years, the environmental community has debated whether climate action projects belong in Scope 3 accounting and related claims at all. Companies, meanwhile, have had the ambition to act in this space regardless. What they haven’t had is a credible, independent way to account for and report on the impacts of their actions, which is key to driving finance to this type of climate action.”

The S3S Program will operate alongside Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. Eligible projects could potentially issue either S3Us or conventional carbon credits. That structure could broaden financing options and the potential pool of buyers.

“The VCS Program taught us what it takes to build a standards program the market can rely on. The Scope 3 Standard Program applies that same discipline to in-value-chain emission reductions and removals, using harmonized accounting and reporting guidance, as well as a tracking system,” she said.

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Agriculture and concrete lead first phase

Version 1 allows project proponents to list projects on the Verra Registry. The initial adapted VCS methodologies cover improved agricultural land management and low-carbon concrete production.

Verra plans to add methodologies covering forestry, industrial fuels, super-pollutants and refrigeration as the program expands.

Future updates will enable registration, validation and verification of projects already listed in the pipeline. That will pave the way for the first issuance of S3Us.

Version 2 will go further. It will establish requirements for demonstrating how a company is connected to a product affected by a climate project. It will also provide for reportable units derived from S3Us that companies can use in greenhouse gas reporting and climate claims.

Corporate climate frameworks remain critical

Verra developed the program with input from more than 100 expert stakeholders through its Scope 3 Initiative, launched in 2022. Pilot testing ran from 2022 through 2026.

Participants included Bayer, Patagonia, 3M, Diageo, Rabobank, Sodexo, Elanco Animal Health and the American Forest Foundation. Climate finance, certification and project development organizations also participated.

A key question for companies and investors will be how the new units interact with established climate accounting and target-setting systems.

Verra designed the program to complement frameworks including the Science Based Targets initiative’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. It also cites compatibility with the ISO Net Zero Aligned Organizations Standard and other corporate climate initiatives.

That alignment matters because Scope 3 accounting remains a major governance challenge. Companies need credible evidence that financed interventions produce measurable reductions while maintaining clear links to their value chains.

For executives, the framework could provide another route for directing capital toward difficult-to-abate supply chain emissions. Investors will also be watching how companies disclose and substantiate the resulting claims.

As corporate climate strategies move deeper into supply chains, credible measurement will become increasingly important. The S3S Program puts a new certification framework into that landscape, with its broader impact likely to depend on adoption, methodology expansion and alignment with global emissions accounting rules.