Harnessing the carbon market to sustain ecosystems and alleviate poverty

Monitoring of AR ProjectsMonitoring of AR Projects

BioCarbon Fund

Training Seminar, February 5 – 8, 2008

Organization of MonitoringOrganization of Monitoring

Project A

Project B

Project C

Project D

Project …

During 2008, we plan to design, implement and link the two monitoring systems:

2. Project level1. Portfolio level

Portfolio Level MonitoringPortfolio Level Monitoring

Key components:• Expected delivery (sum of TARAM estimates)• Commited delivery (sum of ERPA ERs)• Actual delivery (sum of VERs; Sum of tCERs)• Delivery adjustment (sum of adjusted TARAM ERs)• Early warning

– Will the BioCF deliver? (risk of under-delivery and risk of over-commitment)

– Which projects need our assistance?

Project Level MonitoringProject Level Monitoring

• Project design and reporting• Project start up and schedule of planting • Project database• Monitoring Plan• Operational Manual

Project Design and ReportingProject Design and Reporting

Key components:• PDD:

– Core document – describes the project activity.– Monitoring Plan (Annex 4) – describes how

emissions and removals must be measured.• TARAM: Projected emissions, removals, strata,

management and financial information (optional). • Operational Manual• Reporting protocols and guidelines• Monitoring tool (TARAM-type)

Progress of BioCF Planting up to 2007Progress of BioCF Planting up to 2007

Portfolio Up to 2006 2007 Total

Planting schedule (ha) as per PDD

19,667 17,925 37,632

Area planted/ assisted to regenerate

15,270 9,493 24,763

% Area planted 77.6% 53.0% 65.8%

Area in haArea in ha

Planting Schedule for 2008 and beyondPlanting Schedule for 2008 and beyond

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total

Planting schedule (ha) as per PDD

14,669 12,016 5,728 1,828 878 35,119

Area in haArea in ha

Reports on Planting and SurvivalReports on Planting and Survival• Planting

– Planting reports in specified format at six month intervals– Annual report to summarize the details of planting activity

• Survival– Survival percent reports once per year– Impact of natural events – droughts, floods, fire on the survival

in planted area• Nursery stock

– Report on the nursery stock and next year’s projection

Project Data and Information System

Project Data & Information ManagementProject Data & Information Management

• Information Management at Project Unit– Equipment and Skills

• Project data– Collection of field data– Quality checks of the data

• Organization of database– Updates to the database

• Use of database for reporting

Example:Example:Moldova Soil Conservation ProjectMoldova Soil Conservation Project

Monitoring Plan

Focus of a Monitoring PlanFocus of a Monitoring Plan

• List of variables to be measured

• Measurement schedule

• Sampling framework

• Quality control and quality assurance

The Monitoring Plan must be 100% consistent with the approved methodology.

Design of Monitoring PlanDesign of Monitoring Plan

• The BioCF team will review the approved methodologies and propose a Monitoring Plan template for each methodology.

• The validated Monitoring Plan must be implemented during the entire crediting period.

• Ex post modification of the Monitoring Plan is possible but difficult (DOE and EB approval is required).

Tools Supporting PDD & MP: Tools Supporting PDD & MP: TARAM + Winrock toolTARAM + Winrock tool

• Each project should complete its TARAM (with BioCF assistance).

• BioCF team checks correctness, conservativeness, completeness.

• Consistency PDD – TARAM:– Estimation of emission reductions– Strata – Project boundary– Planting schedule

• Number of sample plots (Winrock tool)

We can not go for validation without this

Project BoundaryProject Boundary

• Only the area planted inside the project boundary will count for the issuance of VERs/tCERs.

• So we need to report the boundary (polygon coordinates). Areas can be calculated from coordinates).

Registered Project Boundary

Planted Area

Counted Area

SM1

SM2

To be planted in year 1

To be planted in year 2

SM1.1 SM2.1

SM1.2 SM2.1

SM1.3 SM2.3

To be planted in year 3

As planned ex ante

Boundary of StrataBoundary of Strata

As implemented ex post

SM1

SM2

Planted in year 1

To be planted in year 2

SM1.1

SM1.2

SM1.3

Planted in year 3

Planted in year 2

SM2.1

SM2.2

SM2.3

Boundary of StrataBoundary of Strata

Deviation from Planned ActivitiesDeviation from Planned Activities

• Changes in the project boundary, area of strata and planting schedule during project implementation can seriously impact on the projected delivery of VERs and t/lCERs with potentially serious impacts on the project financials and BioCF delivery to participants.

• Omission of measuring and reporting project emissions and leakage will result in problems at the verification.

Pre-existing biomassPre-existing biomass

– Removal of pre-existing trees during site preparation (not recommended) must be reported and the corresponding carbon stock changes measured.

– Burning of biomass (not recommended) must be reported and the corresponding non-CO2 emissions estimated.

– Pre-existing trees that exist in the baseline and in the project scenario should not have any impact on the ex post net anthropogenic GHG emission reductions.

Baseline Project

Project Emissions and LeakageProject Emissions and Leakage

• Project emissions:

– Must be recorded and reported since the start of the project activity.

• Leakage:

– Must be recorded and reported since the start of the project activity.

• To be discussed:

– Project emissions and leakage of projects that have started before validation and registration and that have not been measured.

Items for Immediate Attention

• Reporting protocols and guidelines for:– Project emissions.– Project leakages.– Implementation of planting schedule.

• Reporting protocols for carbon stock changes in permanent sample plots are less urgent because in most cases measurements will happen in 2011-2012.

{Measured carbon stock changes

Area planted

Actual leakage emissions

Actual project emissions

Baseline carbon stock changesTARAM

Mon

itor

ing

0 1 2 3 4 5 ... Years

{

VERs

Year 1

VERs

Year 1

VERs

Year 1

VERs

Year 1

tCERs

Year 1-5+ + + =?

Calculation of VERs – Method to be developedCalculation of VERs – Method to be developed

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 .... Years

tCO2e

tCERs

VERs ?

Calculation of VERsCalculation of VERs

BioCF payments = f(VERs) BioCF payments = f(VERs)

BioCF will pay “on delivery”:

¿What should be delivered?

• Reports.

• BioCF team will design reporting protocols.

• These will be consistent with the requirements of the registered Monitoring Plans (to avoid increasing reporting requirements).

• A modified TARAM-tool will be designed to facilitate data analysis.

• The tool will be used to calculate the delivered VERs, to adjust the projected tCERs delivery and update the BioCF database.

Risk mitiationRisk mitiation

• Early detection and communication to the BioCF of any problem/delay in project implementation.

• Reporting requirements:– Minimum in order not to increase costs.– Consistent with Monitoring Plan requirements.– Sufficient to detect problems on time.– Quality Control and Quality Assurance.– Payment Policy.

Operational Plan, Manuals and Protocols

Operational PlanOperational Plan

• This is a project specific document.• No EB guidelines exist for operational manuals.• Purpose:

– Who - Organization and responsibilities– What - Activities to be implemented– When - Schedule (updated yearly)– Where - Spatial plan (updated yearly) – How - Budget (updated yearly)

- Operational manuals and protocols

• Technical documents that explain in detail each step of a task.

• Includes:– Check lists– Field Forms– Technical instructions– Reporting guidelines– Etc… (as needed)

Operational Manuals and ProtocolsOperational Manuals and Protocols

Thank You!