ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Climate Registry would like to thank and acknowledge the many experts who contributed to the development of the General Verification Protocol (GVP). Noteworthy are the efforts of the dedicated and visionary Board of Directors, who directed this project. Specifically, the GVP is a result of the commitment and guidance of the following: An asterisk before a committee member’s Thomas Gross, Kansas name indicates that they no longer serve on John Hanger, Pennsylvania the committee. Date in parentheses indicates Laurence Lau, Hawaii committee member’s last year of service. David Littell, Maine Howard Loseth, Saskatchewan Executive Committee Board of Directors Kevin MacDonald, Maine Doug Scott, Illinois, Chairman of the Board James Martin, Colorado James Coleman, Massachusetts, Vice-Chair, Joanne O. Morin, New Hampshire Executive and Protocols Committee Len Peters, Kentucky David Thornton, Minnesota, Vice Chair, Audit Renee Shealy, South Carolina and Verification Oversight Committee Joe Sherrick, Pennsylvania Steve Anderson, British Columbia Christopher Sherry, New Jersey Carol Couch, Georgia *Eileen Tutt, California (2009 Chair) David Littell, Maine *John Corra, Wyoming (2009) James Martin, Colorado, Secretary *Jane Gray, Manitoba (2009) Jim Norton, New Mexico, Treasurer *Chris Korleski, Ohio (2009) *Gina McCarthy, Connecticut (2009 Chair) *Chuck Mueller, Georgia (2009) *Eileen Tutt, California (2009 Vice-Chair, *Robert Noël de Tilly, Québec (2009) Protocols) *Jim Norton, New Mexico (2009) *Brock Nicholson, North Carolina (2009) *Allen Shea, Wisconsin (2009) *Steve Owens, Arizona (2009, Secretary) *Chris Sherry, New Jersey (2009) *James Temte, Southern Ute (2009) Audit and Verification Oversight Committee *Eddie Terrill, Oklahoma (2009) David Thornton, Minnesota, Chair *Paul Sloan, Tennessee (2009) John Corra, Wyoming *David Van’t Hof, Oregon (2009) Vinson Hellwig, Michigan Stanley Paytiamo, Pueblo Stakeholder Advisory Committee (2007- 2008) Eddie Terrill, Oklahoma Jim Coleman, Massachusetts, Co-Chair Leanne Tippett Mosby, Missouri Brock Nicholson, North Carolina, Co-Chair *James Colman, Massachusetts (2009, Chair) David Thornton, Minnesota, Co-Chair *Ian Church, Yukon Territory, Canada (2009) Janice Adair, Washington *George Crombie, Vermont (2009) George Crombie, Vermont *Chris Korleski, Ohio (2009) Leo Drozdoff, Nevada *Dean Mundee, New Brunswick (2009) Onis Glenn, Alabama *Richard Opper, Montana (2009) Richard Leopold, Iowa Jim Martin, Colorado Protocol Committee Board of Directors Cesar Salazar Platt, Sonora James Coleman, Massachusetts, Chair Robert Scott, Utah Lisa Clarke, Colorado Renee Shealy, South Carolina Colleen Cripps, Nevada David Small, Delaware Leo Drozdoff, Nevada James Temte, Southern Ute Michael Gibbs, California Leanne Tippett Mosby, Missouri Lisa Gover, Campo Kumeyaay Nation Chris Trumpy, British Columbia Zac Graves, Colorado ii and the approximately 80 additional greenhouse gas Christian Lupo, NSF-ISR reporting expert stakeholders who contributed to this Greg Palmer, Ruby Canyon Engineering committee. David Robinson, Complete Integrated Certification Services Ltd The Registry Protocol Workgroup (2007-2008) Wilhelm Wang, BSI America's Inc. Lee Alter, Arizona Jay Wintergreen, First Environment Thomas Ballou, Virginia Representatives from Registry Member Michelle Bergin, Georgia Organizations: Drew Bergman, Ohio David Eberle, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. Nicholas Bianco, Massachusetts Richard Martin, Syracuse University Richard Bode, California Steven Messner, ENVIRON Corporation Pierre Boileau, Manitoba Alexander (Sascha) Petersen and Rachel Peter Ciborowski, Minnesota Thompson, Austin Energy / City of Austin Ira Domsky, Arizona Climate Protection Program Bill Drumheller, Oregon *Ron Burke, Union of Concerned Scientists Melissa Fazekas, Ohio (2009) Caroline Garber, Wisconsin *Jon Elam, Tamalpais Community Services Angela Jenkins, Virginia District Ed Jepsen, Wisconsin *Roy Wood, Eastman Kodak Company (2009) Anne Keach, Virginia Other Stakeholders Ed Kitchen, Ohio Namat Elkouche and Pierre Boileau, Canadian Chris Korleski, Ohio Standards Association (CSA) Bill Lamkin, Massachusetts Rajinder Sahota, California Air Resources Board Kevin MacDonald, Maine *Tim Lesiuk, British Colombia (2009) Daniel Moring, Arizona *Sarah Stanner-Cranston, California Climate Linda Murchison, California Action Registry (2009) Brad Musick, New Mexico *James Temte, Southern Ute Tribe (2009) Chris Nelson, Connecticut Advisors Joanne O. Morin, New Hampshire Terence Healey, McDermott Will & Emery LLP Gail Sandlin, Washington Greg Unruh, Thunderbird Juliane Schaible, Manitoba Registry Staff Joe Sherrick, Pennsylvania Jackie Zorovich, Chris Sherry, New Jersey *Amy Dao (2010) William Stone, Kansas James Temte, Southern Ute Registry Staff Contributions Lany Weaver, New Mexico Diane Wittenberg, Executive Director Robyn Camp, Vice President, Programs The Registry would also like to acknowledge the Denise Sheehan, Vice President of Government efforts of its Verification Advisory Group and thank and Regional Affairs them for their thorough review and feedback during Peggy Foran, Policy Manager the protocol update process. Kati Price, Program Manager Jackie Zorovich, Manager of Verification Services The Registry’s Verification Advisory Group Anja Gilbert, Program Assistant Representatives from Accredited Verification Bodies: *Jill Gravender, Vice President, Policy (2010) Dave Church, Bureau Veritas Certification * Tymon Lodder, Regional Director, West (2010) Steve Dunning, KEMA-Registered Quality, Inc. *Amy Dao, Verification Program Associate (2010) Rob Ellis, Advanced Waste Management *Sam Hitz, Senior Policy Advisor (2009) Systems, Inc. Todd Frank, Scientific Certification Systems Ann Hewitt, Ryerson, Master and Associates, Inc., a member of the Lloyd’s Register Group of entities Ray Huff, SCS Engineers Acknowledgements iii The Registry would like to thank Ryerson, Master and Associates, Inc., a member of the Lloyd’s Register Group of entities, for their assistance in development of the Electric Power Sector Addendum to the GVP. The Registry would also like to thank the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP), the WRAP’s Technical Working Group (see page iii of the O&GP Protocol for a list of participants), SAIC, and Environ for their collaboration in developing the Oil and Gas Production Addendum to the General Verification Protocol. While it is impossible to properly thank and acknowledge everyone who contributed to the GVP, The Registry wishes to recognize the following organizations for contributing their leadership, knowledge, and thoughtful feedback throughout this project: California Climate Action Registry Canadian Standards Association First Environment Future Perfect Science Applications International Corporation The Registry is additionally grateful to all of the individuals and organizations who provided written and verbal comments on the draft version of the GVP, as well as those who participated in The Registry’s public workshops. The GVP would also not be possible without The Registry’s talented staff and technical team. Thus, The Registry wishes to extend thanks to: Chris Minnucci and the SAIC team for their technical assistance in drafting the GVP; as well as Diane Wittenberg, Sam Hitz, Peggy Foran, and Kati Price for their extensive contributions in drafting and finalizing GVP Version 1.0. Jill Gravender deserves special thanks and acknowledgment for her leadership, knowledge, and drive to the finish line in the development of GVP Version 1.0. The Registry is grateful to Jackie Zorovich and Amy Dao for their extensive contributions in drafting and finalizing GVP Version 2.0. Finally, The Registry wishes to thank The Energy Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, the Merck Family Fund, and the Blank Family Foundation, Inc. for their generous financial support of The Registry. I’m very grateful to be part of this important document. Sincerely yours, Doug Scott Chairman of the Board of Directors The Climate Registry iv Acknowledgements TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1: INTRODUCTION...................................................1 1.1 Introduction to the GVP..............................................................................1 1.1.1 Background on The Registry’s Verification Program .................................1 1.1.2 International GHG Standards.....................................................................1 1.2 Overview of the Verification Process........................................................2 1.2.1 Key Players................................................................................................3 1.2.2 Becoming a Registry-Recognized Verification Body..................................6 1.2.3 Verification Documentation ........................................................................6 1.2.4 Climate Registry Information System (CRIS).............................................6 1.2.5 Registry Review and Public Release of Data ............................................7 1.3 Organization of the GVP.............................................................................7 1.4 Updates to the GVP ....................................................................................7 PART 2: SUMMARY OF THE VERIFICATION PROCESS AND REQUIREMENTS ...............................................8 2.1 Principles of Verification............................................................................8 2.2 Verification Process Overview