Our plant has a CCTS emission-intensity target. Can we also earn Verra credits for the same reductions?
Not for the same reductions. VCS Standard v5.0 bars credit for one reduction under both Verra and an emissions trading program or binding emission limit. Where a project's reductions are also covered by such a scheme, Verra and your validation body need signed proof from its administrator that nothing overlaps, or that overlapping units were cancelled.
The VCS rule
Section 3.22.3 of the VCS Standard says a project proponent shall not seek credit for the same emission reduction or removal under the VCS Program and an emissions trading program or binding emission limit. Section 3.22.4 adds that where reductions or project activities are also included in such a program or limit, you must show they have not been and will not be counted, used or credited there.
What Verra and the VVB ask for
- Name and contact details of the program administrator.
- Details of your participation in the program or limit.
- Vintage periods, project activity, the scope and quantification of reductions, and anything else that identifies them.
- Evidence of no double counting, such as a signed letter from the administrator, designated national authority or other relevant regulator explaining that the project's reductions in no way overlap with what is credited under the program, or confirming that any overlapping units, credits or certificates have been cancelled and not used.
How this lands on a CCTS plant
Under CCTS your plant earns or surrenders carbon credit certificates against a GHG intensity target. A project inside the plant, such as waste heat power or a fuel switch, lowers that intensity. If the same tonnes also became Verra credits, they would be sold twice. Raise this with your validation and verification body at the start, and ask BEE, the CCTS administrator, early for the letter Verra will need.
Other credit schemes follow the same logic
Verra also refuses credit for an activity and time period already receiving or seeking GHG-related credit from another environmental credit system. For different time periods, it needs proof, again often a signed letter, that the same reduction is not credited twice. The CCTS offset mechanism has its own rule against registering a project in another market at the same time.
Example: a waste heat power project
- Project cuts 12,000 t CO2 a year, and the plant's reported intensity falls by the same tonnes
- Route 1: keep the CCTS benefit; no Verra credits for those 12,000 t
- Route 2: Verra credits for 12,000 t, backed by a signed letter that the overlapping CCTS certificates were cancelled and not used
- Either way, 12,000 t is sold once
12,000 t is an example figure.
What Senseible does here
Senseible shows carbon credit eligibility signals from your plant's own records. Verra issues credits and your validation body checks overlap; Senseible does neither.
Sources: Verra, VCS Standard v5.0 (16 December 2025), section 3.22
Last reviewed 2026-11-03. Check the current VCS Standard version and any Verra guidance on Indian CCTS before validation.