Can we claim last year's reductions in this year's Verra monitoring report?

No. Under VCS Standard v5.0 each monitoring period is a distinct stretch of time that does not overlap an earlier one, and reductions from previous monitoring periods are not eligible for crediting again. Each report must also give the reductions for every calendar year inside its period.

What the standard says

• The monitoring period must be a distinct time period that does not overlap previous monitoring periods.
• Reductions and removals generated in previous monitoring periods are not eligible for crediting.
• The first monitoring period begins on the initial crediting period start date.
• The monitoring report, and the verification report after it, must give the reductions generated in each calendar year of the monitoring period.

Gaps

The standard forbids gaps between monitoring periods for grouped projects, agriculture, forestry and other land projects, and projects with a risk of a reversal. A plain energy project is not on that list. A stretch that sits in no monitoring period still has no report to carry its reductions, so plan the periods back to back.

Periods that cross a year end

A period from April to March crosses a calendar year, so the report splits the total into the part in each year. Keep monthly figures, not just a period total, so the split is a sum and not a guess.

Example: an April to March period (example figures)

• Monitoring period 1: 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Claimed reductions: 1,200 tonnes (t) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), about 100 t a month.
• Calendar year 2026: April to December, 9 months x 100 = 900 t CO2e
• Calendar year 2027: January to March, 3 months x 100 = 300 t CO2e. Total 900 + 300 = 1,200 t CO2e
• Monitoring period 2 starts on 1 April 2027. It cannot reach back into period 1.

Example figures to show the sum. Real reductions are rarely even by month.

What Senseible does here

Senseible keeps your fuel and power invoices as dated monthly records, so the split by calendar year is a sum over months you can show. It does not register projects or issue credits; Verra and your verifier do.

• Carbon credits
• When the verifier must visit
• Verifying a year with no new equipment
• How long to keep project records

Sources: Verra, VCS Standard v5.0 (16 December 2025), Sections 3.4.3 to 3.4.6, 3.8.1 and 4.1.22

Last reviewed 2026-11-04. Section numbers are from VCS Standard v5.0 (16 December 2025); re-check them when Verra publishes a new version.