Deviations from approved methodologies

A request for deviation is required where a DOE determines during validation or verification that a project has or will deviate from the provisions of an approved methodology or the project documentation:

A request for deviation may be made in advance of requesting registration or issuance of CERs when a DOE considers, during validation or verification, that the participant has or intends to deviate from the provisions of an approved methodology or registered project documentation. The request shall be de in accordance with the latest version of the procedures (EB 31 Annex 12, paragraph 10).

A distinction is drawn between requests for deviations in advance of requests for registration and requests for deviation at the stage of issuance:

A requests of for deviations made in advance of requesting registration, refers to deviations from an approved methodology applicable to the proposed project activity, while requests at the stage of issuance refers to a deviation from the monitoring plan of a registered CDM project activity (EB 31 Annex 12, paragraph 11).

Deviation is appropriate where there is a change in the conditions, circumstances or nature of a proposed project activity, which is not significant enough to require a revision of the methodology:

12. A request for deviation is suitable for situations where a change in the procedures for the estimation of emissions or monitoring procedures is required due to a change in the conditions, circumstances or nature of a registered project activity. The deviation shall be project specific and shall not deviate from the methodology, such that a revision would be required.
13. A request for deviation is not suited for cases where (i) the monitoring plan is not in accordance with the monitoring methodology applied to the registered project activity, (ii) when the approved methodology is no longer applicable to the project activity, (iii) it results in revisions as referred to in paragraph 6, (iv) or for example it results in a change in default parameter values other than those mentioned in the approved methodology (EB 31 Annex 12, paragraphs 12 and 13).

The Executive Board re-stated in its decision EB 28, paragraph 82 that deviations from approved methodologies should be an exception and that where a DOE identifies a deviation it shall seek further guidance from the Executive Board before finalising the validation report:

The Board reiterates that deviations from approved methodologies shall be considered an exception and DOEs shall ensure the application of the provisions of the approved methodology. Under situations where a DOE identifies deviations from the approved methodology and there is no approved deviation applicable to the case, the DOE shall seek guidance from the Board, through the request for deviation process, before finalizing the validation report. If a DOE considers that an approved deviation may be applicable to a project they shall, by means of a request for deviation, request the Board's permission to apply this approved deviation prior to finalization of the validation report (EB 28, paragraph 82).

Procedure for requesting a deviation from an approved methodology

The Procedures for Requests for Deviation to the Executive Board (Version 2) is contained in EB 24 Annex 30. This guidance document sets out:

• Procedures for requesting a deviation from an approved methodology (prior to registration);
• Procedures for requesting a deviation from registered project documentation (prior to issuance);
• Procedures for consideration of a request for deviation by the Executive Board; and
• Procedures for the consideration of a request for deviation by a panel or working group.

A deviation is requested using the CDM: Request for deviation form (F-CDM-DEV).

A deviation to an approved methodology may be requested before registration of the project activity if the DOE determines that the change does not require a revision of the methodology:

If a DOE finds at validation that project participants deviated from an approved methodology when applying it to a proposed project activity and the DOE does not consider that the deviation implies a revision of the methodology it may seek guidance on the acceptability of the deviation from the Executive Board prior to requesting registration of the proposed project activity. If a DOE finds that the deviation from the approved methodology requires revision of this methodology the procedures provided for revision of approved methodology shall be used (EB 24 Annex 30, paragraph 4).

A DOE must justify why a deviation from an approved methodology does not require a revision on that methodology and describe the impact of the deviation on the emissions reductions to be generated by the project:

If guidance is sought, the DOE shall submit the form for submission of a request for deviation "CDM: Request for deviation form" (F-CDM-DEV) through the dedicated internet interface on the UNFCCC CDM website. The submission by the DOE shall provide clear and precise assessment that the deviation does not imply revision of an approved methodology and a description of the impact of the deviation on the emission reductions from the project activity, for the Executive Board to evaluate (EB 24 Annex 30, paragraph 5).

Once the request for deviation (F-CDM-DEV) has been requested, the secretariat will forward it to the Executive Board and the Meth Panel, and make the request publicly available (unless the DOE requests otherwise):

Upon submission of the form, the secretariat shall forward the documentation to the Executive Board and to the Methodologies Panel, via list serv after having checked that (a) the "CDM: Request for deviation form" has been completed by the DOE, and (b) the documentation provided by the DOE is complete... The date of transmission by the secretariat to the Executive Board is to be considered as the date of receipt of a request for deviation. Information on a request for deviation from an approved methodology shall be made publicly available unless specified differently in the form by the DOE (EB 24, Annex 30, paragraph 6).

If the Secretariat determines that the criteria for a request for deviation have not been met, it will ask the DOE to submit the request as a request for revision of an approved methodology:

If the Secretariat, in consultation with the Chair of the Methodology Panel, assesses that the request for deviation does not meet the criteria for a request for deviation, based on the provided information, it shall ask the DOE to submit the request as a request for revision of an approved methodology (EB 24, Annex 30, paragraph 6).

Consideration of a request for deviation by the Executive Board

Once a request for deviation has been receive, the Chair of the Executive Board and the chair of the panel or working group will decide whether the request should be considered, and if more information is required:

The Chair of the Board, in consultation with the relevant chair of panel(s) and/or working group(s) shall decide within 5 working days if:

The submission shall be considered by the relevant panel(s) and/or working group(s) in order to provide technical input.

More information is required. If so, the secretariat will inform the DOE which shall provide such information as soon as possible. Upon receipt the information is forwarded to the members of the Board, panels, working groups, as applicable (EB 24 Annex 30, Part A, paragraph 10).

Once the DOE has provided all necessary additional information and the panel/working group has provided technical clarifications, the Executive Board will make a decision:

In the case that no technical clarification is needed by any panel and/or working group, or once technical clarifications have been provided by a panel and/or working group, the Board shall decide, whenever possible, by electronic decision making based on a decision prepared by the Chair of the Executive Board, if

the request for deviation shall be accepted or not;

if further guidance is to be provided to the DOE; and (c) if the general clarifications shall be shared with all DOEs and project participants, as appropriate. The proposed decision shall include the original request, reasons for acceptance or rejection of the request and the language of the proposed decision (EB 24 Annex 30, Part A, paragraph 11).

Once the Executive Board has made its decision, it will be made publicly available:

Once a decision has been made by the Board, the secretariat shall inform the DOE about the decision and guidance provided by the Board. If general clarifications shall be shared with all DOEs and project participants, the secretariat shall make the guidance publicly available in the UNFCCC CDM web site and through the CDM news facility (EB 24 Annex 30, Part A, paragraph 12).

Consideration of a request for deviation by a panel or working group

The Executive Board may be assisted by a panel or working group. In this case, two members of the panel or working group are selected to prepare draft recommendations:

Up to two member(s) of the panel/working group shall, under the guidance of the Chair and Vice- Chair of the panel/working group, be selected for preparing draft recommendations for the panel/working group. The selected panel/working group member(s) shall each be paid a fee of a maximum of one working days for the preparation of the draft recommendation (EB 24 Annex 30, paragraph 14)

The request may be considered either electronically or at the next meeting of the panel working group, as decided by the Chair:

If a panel and/or working group is to consider a request for deviation, the Chair of the panel/working group shall decide if it shall be treated at the next meeting of the panel/working group or whether the request can be treated electronically by the panel/working group. In the case the request shall be considered at a meeting the panel/working group shall, bearing in mind the timelines and deadlines for the consideration of documents by the panel/working group and priorities set by the Board, consider the proposed deviation at its next meeting, if feasible, and recommend to the Board whether the proposed request should be accepted and/or provide clarifications requested (EB 24 Annex 30, paragraph 13)

The Clarification on when to request a revision or clarification of, or deviation from, an approved methodology Version 2 (in EB 31 Annex 12) replaces Version 1 (in EB 30 Annex 1).