Verra Launches Scope 3 Standard Program: What Companies Can Do Now—and What Comes Next

Key Takeaways

• What Happened: On September 15, 2026, Verra launched Version 1.0 of its Scope 3 Standard (S3S) Program (S3S Program), a new framework for quantifying, verifying, and certifying greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and carbon dioxide removals from projects within corporate value chains. Verra administers the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), a major GHG crediting program. The S3S Program adapts VCS quantification methodologies, auditing and certification processes, and registry infrastructure to value-chain projects—and adds key traceability requirements. The S3S Program draws on existing components of the VCS Program, including project-based accounting, quantification methodologies, third-party assurance, and Verra Registry infrastructure, and builds on these tools to enable value-chain projects and Scope 3 reporting.
• Why it Matters: Companies with Scope 3 targets need greater certainty that value-chain decarbonization investments will produce emissions outcomes they can credibly measure, attribute, and report. S3S aims to provide a more consistent framework, enable companies to share costs and benefits across their value chains, and reduce barriers to investment. Verra’s reach among project developers, corporate buyers, and verifiers could position the S3S Program to shape global practices for quantifying and reporting on value-chain decarbonization. The S3S launch comes as the GHG Protocol develops new guidance for reporting the effects of value-chain interventions and market instruments, and, according to Verra, is designed to help users “future-proof” for developments in corporate GHG emissions accounting and reporting.
• Who’s Impacted: The S3S Program is relevant to companies with Scope 3 targets and entities developing or financing value-chain emissions-abatement projects. Version 1.0 sets requirements for developing value-chain emissions abatement projects, quantifying and verifying project-level GHG outcomes, and linking those outcomes to impacted products. At launch, Verra approved two S3S methodologies—VM0042 (Improved Agricultural Land Management, v.1.0) and VM0043 (CO₂ Utilization in Concrete Production, v1.0)—making Version 1.0 particularly relevant for project proponents considering projects under those methodologies. Version 2 will address value-chain association, allocation, and co-claiming, and enable the issuance of reportable Scope 3 Units (S3Us) to companies with a verified right-to-report, making it more relevant to reporting companies.
• How and When to Act: Verra is implementing the program in stages. In Phase 1, project proponents will be able to pipeline-list projects on the Verra Registry using available methodologies. Companies considering value-chain emissions abatement projects should assess whether an approved S3S methodology applies (currently, VM0042 and VM0043). Companies interested in establishing a verified right-to-report and receiving reportable S3Us should monitor the development of Phase 2.

Overview

Scope 3 emissions are indirect GHG emissions arising from activities across a company’s upstream and downstream value chain. Verra’s S3S Program focuses on the project-level processes needed to measure and verify emissions reductions or removals and to connect those emissions reduction outcomes to impacted products. Under Version 1.0, verified GHG outcomes may form the basis for issuing S3Us to project proponents. Future versions are expected to introduce mechanisms for assessing value-chain association and allocation and for issuing “reportable S3Us” that companies may use for broader Scope 3 reporting purposes.

Importantly, certification under the S3S Program itself does not determine how a company may reflect project outcomes in its corporate GHG inventory, target reporting, or emissions claims. Verra designed the program to accommodate evolving corporate accounting and reporting frameworks, and Version 2 is expected to establish additional right-to-report requirements for reporting companies.

A Project-Based Framework for Scope 3 Action

Under the S3S Program, a project must affect emissions within a value chain, generate GHG outcomes attributable to an impacted product, comply with an approved S3S methodology, and meet applicable S3S Program requirements.

For each project, the S3S Program and the applicable S3S methodology establish the requirements and procedures for defining relevant emissions boundaries, determining the baseline scenario, collecting and monitoring data, and quantifying the project’s GHG outcomes. At launch, the available methodologies are S3S-VM0042 Improved Agricultural Land Management, v1.0 and S3S-VM0043 CO2 Utilization in Concrete Production, v1.0.

The “impacted product” requirement links the project’s GHG outcomes to a specific good or service affected by the project. Verra identifies impacted products as goods or services directly affected by project activities within the defined project boundaries and intended for commercial sale. Inputs and derivative products elsewhere in the supply chain are not treated as impacted products. For example, for a project using feed additives to reduce emissions from dairy livestock, Verra identifies raw milk, not downstream products such as cheese or yogurt, as the impacted product. This distinction identifies the product to which the project’s GHG outcomes are directly attributed; it does not, by itself, determine which downstream companies may report those outcomes (for example, as reductions to its Scope 3 GHG inventory), a question the program’s forthcoming right-to-report requirements will address.

Attribution and Distribution

The S3S Program includes requirements for attribution and distribution, intended to connect a project’s quantified climate impact to the impacted products generated during the relevant monitoring period. Attribution determines how much impacted product is associated with each metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) of GHG outcome, while distribution determines how the project’s GHG outcomes are allocated among impacted product groups. These calculations must account for all GHG outcomes and impacted products generated during the monitoring period, use a single impacted-product metric, and be performed proportionally through the S3S Program Attribution and Distribution Tool (still under development).

Validation, Verification, and Scope 3 Units

Independent, Verra-approved validation/verification bodies (VVBs) will assess S3S projects. Once Verra approves the project verification, it will issue S3Us to the project proponent. Each S3U represents one metric tonne of CO2e reduced or removed by an S3S project relative to its baseline and includes additional attributes relevant to Scope 3 reporting, such as the type and amount of impacted product, leakage emissions, baseline type, and reversal risk.

Although Version 1.0 establishes requirements for validation, monitoring, verification, and S3U issuance, these functions are not yet operational. At launch, the program permits only pipeline listing of S3S projects in the Verra Registry. Verra has stated that the next major update to Version 1 will enable projects to proceed through validation, registration, monitoring, verification, and issuance of S3Us.

The Right-to-Report and Reportable Scope 3 Units

The S3S Program distinguishes between certifying a project's GHG outcomes and establishing that a particular company has a sufficient value-chain connection to report those outcomes.

Version 1.0 principally addresses the first function by establishing requirements for certifying value-chain projects and issuing S3Us to project proponents. Version 2 will establish the right-to-report, under which a reporting company must demonstrate a credible and verified value-chain connection to an impacted product from an S3S project. Once that right-to-report and the associated allocation are verified, reportable S3Us may be derived from the underlying S3Us and issued to the reporting company for use in its Scope 3 reporting.

Co-Claiming

The S3S Program also contemplates co-claiming, under which companies in different tiers of a value chain may claim the same emission reductions or removals in their Scope 3 emissions reporting. Verra’s approach here is consistent with other standards, and considers such co-claiming permissible and not to constitute double counting under the S3S Program because companies at different tiers share the relevant value-chain emissions. Scope 3 emissions by their very nature are double counted, first as Scope 1 emissions from the emissions source, then as Scope 3 emissions through each tier of a value chain. By allowing multiple companies connected to the same value chain to report a project’s benefits, co-claiming can provide greater incentives for supply-chain partners to co-invest in, coordinate, and scale emissions-reduction efforts across the value chain.

Co-claiming will be enabled through the right-to-report framework and issuance of reportable S3Us to companies. Version 2 is expected to establish the additional functionality, procedures, and safeguards needed to administer co-claiming and prevent over-issuance.

How S3Us Differ from VCS Carbon Credits

The S3S Program and Verra’s VCS Program both use project-based accounting, standardized methodologies, third-party assurance, and the Verra Registry. However, the units issued under the two programs serve different purposes. The VCS Program is generally used for GHG offsetting, and VCS credits may be purchased and used without requiring a value-chain connection to the underlying project. By contrast, S3Us support Scope 3 emissions reporting, and a reporting company must demonstrate a verified value chain connection to the impacted product before it may receive reportable S3Us for Scope 3 reporting.

A project may be registered concurrently under both the VCS and S3S Programs if it satisfies the requirements of each. However, a project may be active and issue units under only one program at any given time, and units cannot be converted between the two programs.

Practical Takeaways

Companies evaluating the S3S Program should:

• Consider engaging in ongoing program development. Companies evaluating significant use of the S3S Program may wish to review Verra’s current program materials and provide feedback while key implementation details remain under development. Verra is currently accepting feedback on program fees and other S3S documents through November 30, 2026.
• Monitor the phased implementation. The S3S Program currently permits project pipeline listing, while validation, verification, S3U issuance, and company-level right-to-report functionality will be introduced in later updates.
• Identify potentially eligible projects and supporting data for attribution. Companies should assess whether existing or planned emissions-abatement activities align with available S3S methodologies and monitor Verra's development of additional methodologies. Project proponents should also confirm that they can demonstrate the right to operate the project and the right to the resulting GHG outcomes, and maintain the data needed for validation, verification, and attribution.
• Consider value-chain collaboration opportunities. The future right-to-report and co-claiming framework may create additional opportunities for companies at different tiers of a value chain to co-invest in emissions-abatement projects, subject to the value-chain association, allocation, and other safeguards to be established in Version 2.
• Evaluate future Scope 3 reporting opportunities. Companies with Scope 3 targets should assess whether S3S project information could support future corporate GHG reporting and progress toward targets.

Beveridge & Diamond's Climate Change and Carbon Markets team counsels clients across the full life cycle of clean fuels and environmental markets. The firm’s expertise includes compliance and voluntary programs, corporate GHG reporting, complex commercial transactions, and advice on developing, implementing, and substantiating decarbonization strategies, supply chain programs, renewable energy, and market instrument arrangements. Our lawyers have worked on the ground in regions across the globe, advising on local regulatory compliance, stakeholder engagement, and voluntary decarbonization programs.