Role of the DOE
The process of verification of afforestation and reforestation (A/R) projects is performed by a designated operational entity (DOE):
In the case of afforestation and reforestation project activities under the CDM, a designated operational entity shall verify and certify net anthropogenic greenhouse gas removals by sinks (5/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 6).
The provisions relating to the role of DOEs for large-scale non-A/R projects set out in the annex to 3/CMP.1 apply equally to A/R projects:
All provisions of section E of the CDM modalities and procedures, contained in the annex to decision 17/CP.7, shall apply mutatis mutandis to afforestation and reforestation project activities under the CDM (5/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 6).
Therefore, DOE may only perform either validation or verification and certification in respect of a single A/R project activity, unless the Executive Board specifically approves a request to allow a single DOE to perform all these functions:
A designated operational entity shall:
- Perform one of the following functions relating to a given CDM project activity: validation or verification and certification. Upon request, the Executive Board may, however, allow a single designated operational entity to perform all these functions within a single CDM project activity (3/CMP.1, Annex, paragraph 27(e)).
In addition, the DOE that submits the request for a renewed crediting period may not perform verification for the renewed crediting period:
Any DOE can be selected by project participants to perform this task, however for large scale projects the DOE that submits the request for renewal of the crediting period shall not perform verification for this the renewed crediting period (EB 36, Annex 43, footnote 2).
DOEs must follow the requirements outlined in the Validation and Verification Manual (VVM) to ensure quality and consistency in verification and validation reports.
It is a matter for the project participants to select and engage a DOE to perform verification. The project participants have the discretion to decide which accredited DOE to engage and on what commercial terms.
The UNFCCC website includes a list with approved methodologies by sectoral scopes and shows the DOEs which are accredited to conduct verification in each sector.