MRV, in favor of Carbon Neutrality
Your company or industrial project may be helping to reduce environmental impact. However, it will be necessary to know whether it effectively reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Implementing an MRV process will ensure the integrity and effectiveness of your project towards carbon credits. AZLOGICA® will show you how.
In 2015, following the Paris Agreement resulting from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), signatory countries committed to reducing their net carbon emissions by 2050. This commitment includes what is known as Carbon Neutrality, which aims to minimize greenhouse gas emissions resulting from deforestation, fossil fuel use, waste management, and more. This led to the emergence of “carbon certificates or credits,” which certify that emissions have been reduced by a company or organization.
Playing a key role in the fight against climate change, each carbon credit is generated through a sustainable project that either absorbs one ton of CO2 or prevents its release into the atmosphere. These credits are issued and certified by the Carbon Development Mechanism (CDM), a carbon offset scheme established under the UNFCCC and administered by the United Nations. They allow companies and governments to offset their emissions by supporting projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in other parts of the world.
Amidst this process, the importance of Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) of carbon credits should be highlighted. Nowadays, MRV is crucial to guarantee the integrity of the carbon market and the effectiveness of carbon credit projects. With transparent, robust, and standardized MRV systems, the carbon market will facilitate real emissions reductions and support sustainable development worldwide.
Implementing an MRV is essential to ensure that the emission reductions claimed by your project are real. Above all, emphasis must be placed on the transparency, robustness, and accuracy of this MRV, so that investors or stakeholders in your project can trust the claimed emission reductions.
For social and environmental sustainability,
Furthermore, to achieve these results and verify them through an effective MRV, standardized methodologies and protocols must be used. This allows for consistent comparison and evaluation of projects. Finally, the MRV must be independently verified by qualified external auditors to ensure an objective assessment of the emission reductions achieved by a project.
There are different types of carbon credits, and the MRV requirements vary depending on the project. The main carbon credits are associated with Verified Emission Reductions (VERs) and Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). VERs are issued by independent verification companies and are not subject to the same level of scrutiny as CERs, which are issued under the aforementioned Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). CERs undergo a more rigorous MRV process, requiring detailed project design documentation, continuous monitoring and reporting, and independent verification by a Designated Operational Entity (DOE) accredited by the UN.
It is important to ensure that each MRV aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In other words, carbon credit projects should not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also generate positive impacts on social and environmental sustainability. For example, a carbon credit project that supports renewable energy in a developing country could also provide economic opportunities to local communities, thus contributing to poverty reduction.
MRV from ECODRIVE®
Through the Internet of Things (IoT), you can determine whether your project is effectively reducing environmental impact by measuring greenhouse gas emissions. This can be done by comparing power consumption between traditional and sustainable means. AZLOGICA® provides such measurements through its ECODRIVE® solution, which utilizes gas emission sensors in a specific area or power consumption meters to calculate these impacts.
AZLOGICA® offers you the possibility to generate such MRV resources. ECODRIVE® is specifically designed and focused on sustainable development, serving as a standard for measuring the environmental impact of projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and promoting the use of sustainable energy as the primary source.
The challenges and opportunities associated with MRV are evident in their costs and the complexity of implementation, especially for smaller-scale projects. However, it is also true that the benefits of implementing MRV result in increased confidence in the carbon market, along with other additional advantages that outweigh the costs. In other words, it guarantees a return on your investment.
