Project Sustainability Standard V2
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Project Sustainability Standard V2.0 - 2020 Project Sustainability Standard Global Carbon Council 3 of 28 Project Sustainability Standard Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 6 2 BACKGROUND OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 7 3 INTEGRATING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS INTO PROJECT DEVELOPMENT 8 4 UN SDG CERTIFICATION LABELS 8 5 DESIGN OF GCC PROJECT-LEVEL SDG TARGETS AND INDICATORS 9 6 PERFORMANCE TOWARD ACHIEVING DEFINED PROJECT-LEVEL SDG TARGETS 10 7 THIRD-PARTY VERIFICATION OF GCC PROJECT-LEVEL SDG TARGETS AND INDICATORS 11 APPENDIX 1: MATRIX FOR DEMONSTRATION OF CONTRIBUTION OF PROJECT TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 12 APPENDIX 2: NON-BINDING BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES FOR APPLYING UN SDGS IN GCC PROJECT DEVELOPMENT 21 Global Carbon Council 4 of 28 Project Sustainability Standard ACRONYMS ACR Approved Carbon Reductions E+ Environmental No-net-harm Label GCC Global Carbon Council GHG Greenhouse Gas GORD Gulf Organisation for Research and Development MENA Middle East & North Africa PSF Project Submission Form S+ Social No-net-harm Label SDG United Nations Sustainable Development Goals UN United Nations JCM Joint Crediting Mechanism CORSIA Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation Global Carbon Council 5 of 28 Project Sustainability Standard 1 Introduction 1. The Global Carbon Council (GCC) is the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region’s first voluntary carbon-offsetting program and an initiative of Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD). GCC aims to contribute to a vision of sustainable and low-carbon economy in the world, including that of the region, help to catalyze climate actions on the ground, ensure that project construction and operations cause no net harm to the environment and society, and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as per host- country priorities. The entire governance structure, system and documentation framework to achieve these objectives are collectively called the GCC Program.1 2. Figure 1 below present key labels/certifications provided by GCC, in recognition of the GHG reductions and enhanced contribution to achieving sustainable development resulting from projects. The carbon credits (Approved Carbon Reductions or ACRs) issued by the GCC to projects represent the label given by GCC Program to the project. Figure 1: Certifications/Labels of Global Carbon Council (GCC) 3. This Project Sustainability Standard provides requirements for demonstrating the sustainability of Project Activities based on contributions made towards achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This standard describes how to integrate SDGs into GCC Project Activity development, thereby catalyzing climate action and contributing to the global objective of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. Project Owners may choose to voluntarily apply this standard to demonstrate the level of contribution of their project to achieving SDGs and, accordingly, indicate their choice in the Project Submission Form (PSF), which shall be verified ex-post by approved GCC Verifiers. However, once a Project 1 GCC Program: https://www.globalcarboncouncil.com/global-carbon-council.html Global Carbon Council 6 of 28 Project Sustainability Standard Owner chooses to apply this standard for the development, assessment and verification of a Project Activity, the provisions in this standard become mandatory. 4. This standard has been developed based on the requirements of section 6 of the Program Manual, which is the overarching program document that provides links to various GCC documents containing the rules and requirements governing the GCC Program.2 5. The GCC Program Manual, section 6, requires the application of the Project Sustainability Standard (this document) to complete section F of the PSF, for Project Activity Types A1, A2 and B1 (as defined in ‘GCC Project Standard’, section 4), and in cases where Project Owners voluntarily choose the option of demonstrating the contribution of the Project Activity to achieving the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). 6. The terms used in this document have been defined in the Program Definitions document and shall be referred to when applying the Project Sustainability Standard (this document).3 7. The requirements stipulated in Program Manual, Project Standard and Verification Standard shall also be applicable to Project Owners and to GCC Verifiers to ensure conformance when applying this standard. 2 Background of the Sustainable Development Goals 8. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development agreed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 25-27 September 2015 is intended to transform the world to be a better place to live. 9. The global indicator framework was adopted on 6 July 2017 and is contained in a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.4 This framework contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals, 169 targets, and 232 indicators. At least one indicator has been defined for each UN-level SDG and target. 10. Many national governments have established SDG implementation structures and are taking steps to integrate SDGs into their national planning. For example, Qatar has declared 6 SDG goals out of 17 as its priority for their sustainable development.5 11. The private sector, including many corporations, is also contributing to this objective in their own way, as has been reported under the UN Global Compact.6 2 GCC documents available on website: www.globalcarboncouncil.com/resource-centre.html 3 While using any GCC document, the terms/definitions/acronyms and the names of the regulatory documents referred have their first letter in capitals (e.g., ‘Project Standard’). 4 United Nations General Assembly Resolution: https://undocs.org/A/RES/71/313 5 The State of Qatar: Second Voluntary National Review, July 2018: https://www.mdps.gov.qa/en/knowledge/Doc/QNV/Report%20of%20the%20National%20Voluntary%20review%20 2018.pdf 6 https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/our-work/sustainable-development Global Carbon Council 7 of 28 Project Sustainability Standard Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) has demonstrated how GHG mitigation projects can contribute to achieving SDGs.7 3 Integrating Sustainable Development Goals into project development 12. The GCC framework has been designed to contribute to the global effort of sustainable development through effective integration of SDGs in the development of GCC Project Activities. 13. SDG targets and indicators have been developed with a country-wide focus and many countries have prioritized specific SDGs. Therefore, Project Owners are encouraged to voluntarily choose to contribute to the SDGs prioritized in their respective countries. When selecting SDGs to which they will contribute, they shall implement the associated targets and indicators in the context of their project scope. This will enable GCC Project Activities to contribute to both global and national SDGs, while working at the project level. If for justified reasons Project Owners wish to contribute to SDGs other than those prioritized in their country, they may do so. 4 UN SDG Certification Labels 14. All GCC Project Activities shall demonstrate a clear, direct contribution to sustainable development, defined as making demonstrable, positive impacts on, at a minimum, SDG 13 – Climate Action (implemented herein as Emissions Reductions or Removals and/or Adaptation to climate change). 15. Each of the SDGs targeted in a GCC Project Activity shall include at least one UN- level target and corresponding indicators, where possible, by modifying and customizing the target(s) and indicators appropriately to the project scope, after considering nationally declared priorities. 16. Depending on the number of SDGs targeted, UN SDG Certification levels can be achieved by GCC Project Activities as indicated in Figure 2 and Table 1 below: Figure 2: UN SDG Certification Framework 7 https://www.iges.or.jp/en/pub/joint-crediting-mechanism-jcm-contributions-sustainable-development-goals-sdgs/en Global Carbon Council 8 of 28 Project Sustainability Standard Table 1: SDG Certification Level Number of For each targeted UN SDG, has the SDG Certification Labels UN-level Project Activity positively affected SDGs least one UN-level target and targeted corresponding indicator(s)?8 2 out of 17 Yes Bronze 3 out of 17 Yes Silver 4 out of 17 Yes Gold 5 out of 17 Yes Platinum More than 5 Yes Diamond 5 Design of GCC project-level SDG targets and indicators 17. GCC Project Owners shall complete section F of the Project Submission Form (PSF) prior to Project Verification. This section of the PSF requires information to be provided, as indicated in Appendix-1, Table 2, to define project-level SDG targets and indicators for the Project Activity. 18. The matrix in Appendix 1, Table 2 provides a framework for: mapping for each of the 17 SDGs UN- and project-level targets and indicators; demonstrating the additionality of actions; defining key parameters to be monitored for demonstrating GCC Project Activity contributions to SDGs; and reporting of Project Verification conclusions by a GCC Verifier. If multiple targets/indicators are selected by a Project Owner for a selected SDG, rows can be added to the table. 19. GCC Project Owners, when completing section F of the PSF, shall describe and demonstrate that: (a) Each of the UN-level SDGs included in the GCC Project Activity includes at least one UN-level target and corresponding indicator(s), where possible, by suitably modifying and customizing it to the project