IETA publishes Buyers’ Guide to Digital MRV

Every carbon credit depends on monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV), the process that shows a tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent has been reduced or removed. IETA’s Digital Working Group has published the Buyers’ Guide to Digital MRV, which explains how digital tools are changing that process and what it means for buyers.

Traditional MRV relies largely on periodic data collection, manual processes and static reports. Digital MRV (dMRV) moves towards continuous, time-stamped data from sensors, remote sensing and other tools. The guide sets out how this can:

• drive cost efficiencies
• make more frequent credit issuance possible
• help projects spot risks such as leakage and reversals earlier

dMRV also connects the market more closely. In some cases, data flows directly between project developers, verifiers and crediting programmes. The guide looks at the pilots under way at crediting programmes. It also covers the standardisation work by the World Bank, ICVCM and ISO, which aims to make dMRV requirements consistent across programmes and jurisdictions. Finally, it sets out the new risks dMRV brings and why it works best within a strong governance and assurance framework.

Read the dMRV guide here.