Stage 1 is mainly a desk based review but can also involve a site visit. Here we are looking to determine the carbon ownership and procedure for issuance of credits, whether there are competent partners on site to deliver the various aspects of the workflow (outreach to sign up farmers, advice on rotational grazing and increasing profitability, running nurseries and tree planting operations at scale).

A conservative estimate of likely carbon sequestration each year over 40 years is estimated from published literature and satellite analysis and rough costs for implementation calculated to determine whether high quality credits can be produced at a competitive price. This stage also actively looks for any other issues that might prevent the project working – travel advisories, gang activities, corruption etc. On the converse side is there active support for the proposed project at a political level

A small team on the ground start testing if the approved stage 1 project works in practice. A farmer offer is designed and tested on randomly selected farmers to determine likely uptake. Potential suppliers are consulted on different aspects of the workflow to identify which should be invited to tender. After receipt of tenders follow up meetings are conducted to confirm workflow requirements. Note we look for multiple suppliers for each stage to build in system redundancy. Once the tendering process is completed the investor ready budgets are finalised.

Details are added to each section of a VM0047 or a VM0033 Project Development (PD) document depending on project type as Verra PD’s are thorough and ensure consideration of all aspects of project design. However, use of Verra is not a requirement, we can work with any high standard carbon certifying body the investor chooses (e.g. Isometric, Equitable Earth, American Carbon Registry). If the decision is to use Verra, there will be significantly more added to each of the sections in stage 3; most projects require >300 pages of design work. A 2 page project summary detailing how it will be structured within country is generated and submitted to the stage 2 investment committee.

Stage 3 only starts once there is approval from the stage 2 committee and clear interest from an investor (either internal or external) and is designed to make the project turn-key ready (i.e, all aspects have been tested and trialed and the project will scale quickly once funding is added). The project is started on a small scale and key in country staff are appointed (Project Manager, Outreach Manager, Operations Manager).

The financial structure for the operating SPV is established with offices. Contracts are signed with the selected suppliers for each stage of the workflow and the first few farm contracts are signed. The rotational grazing and reforestation interventions (reforestation only in the case of mangroves) are then implemented to demonstrate efficient delivery of these aspects. The carbon application is submitted to whichever carbon certifying body the investor has selected. At this stage the project is ready for full scale investment.