Carbon Credits Organization Releases New Methodology to Protect Forests and Ensure REDD Projects Deliver Highly Integrated Carbon Offsets. The non-profit organization Verra today unveiled a new methodology for protecting forests through the United Nations-backed Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) scheme. Carbon Credits Organization says its new approach aligns the baseline setting for calculating emission reductions from forest protection activities under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) with the accounting requirements for national climate action plans or nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted by governments under the Paris Agreement. The release of the methodology follows a series of reports accusing some providers of carbon offsets issued through REDD-approved projects of failing to deliver on their promised emissions savings. Much of the controversy surrounding underperforming forest protection projects centers on the baseline calculations against which emissions savings are then measured. The methodology has been in development since 2020, and Verra will lead and manage the baseline setting process using jurisdiction-level data that meets the requirements and the new development process. The program will also use remote sensing technologies combined with detailed risk assessments to determine the expected deforestation for the project area, ensuring that the level of verified emission reductions achieved by all projects in the region is consistent with the jurisdiction-level accounting. (Stuart Stone)