VCU

Full explainer

A Verified Carbon Unit (VCU) is the credit instrument issued under Verra's Verified Carbon Standard programme. One VCU represents the reduction or removal of one tonne of CO₂-equivalent, verified by an accredited third-party auditor against an approved methodology. VCUs are recorded in the Verra registry under a unique serial number and a vintage (the year of emissions reduction).

VCUs are the most-traded voluntary-market unit globally and the dominant unit type for Indonesian forestry credits issued on Verra. They can be retired (permanently used to offset a tonne of emissions) or transferred between accounts; once retired, the serial number is publicly logged in the Verra registry. Cross-registration into SRN-PPI for IDXCarbon trading converts the unit into an SPE-GRK while leaving the underlying VCU retired in Verra.

Related terms

• VCS
• SPE-GRK
• SRN-PPI