Project Verification
After your RT Projections are complete and you deem the Nori Project valuable to your operation, you will begin the process of verification. You do not need to hire a verifier until after you have run your NRT projection. This allows you to see the value of your Nori Project before absorbing the cost of verification. The verification step involves a third party auditor to ensure that the data entered for the Nori Project is reliable and replicable, there is evidence of your practice changes and former practices and the Supplier has obtained approval from the land owners to participate in the Nori program. The cost of verification is Supplier paid, and is about $10,000 per project, this estimate is subject to change, as the verifier has full discretion on price. Verification is an important step in the Nori process to ensure buyers of carbon credits are supporting the growers who are actively and responsibly stewarding their land. Project verification is independent of Nori, so you should expect to communicate directly with the verifier.
General steps of verification are as follows:
Nori sends out a bid document after your RT Projections are complete and you deem the Nori Project valuable to your operation. The bid document lists all fields in your project, the switch information and landowners associated with each field, to give verifiers enough information to provide a bid.
Verifier creates a bid proposal for the supplier (you). Bids are good for 60 days.
Verifier conducts an internal conflict of interest review (COI), an evidence gathering plan, and an audit plan. Once these things are complete, the verifier will contact the primary contact to schedule an opening meeting.
Primary Contact meets Verifier for opening meeting. At your opening meeting, the verifier will go over the audit plan. Once the supplier signs the audit plan, the verification is underway.
Note: If you are enrolling with a data manager, you (the supplier) will be required to attend the opening meeting, with or without the data manager. At the meeting , you will need to give the verifier permission to share and receive data from your data manager. See attestation.
The Supplier provides evidence to the Verifier. Supporting documents a Verifier will require include geo-referenced pictures, receipts, and farm records (i.e. purchase of a new tillage implement, cover crop seed receipts). Additionally, the Verifier will speak with the “Primary Contact”, the individual who signs the RT agreement with Nori, to validate practices. Without a paper trail proving aspects of your operation, the Verifier may contact a reputable source in your community (agronomist, extension agent) to confirm the narrative of your operation.
Verifier completes verification. The Verifier is asked to provide an opinion as to the reasonableness and replicability of information the Supplier has submitted to Nori, where the Supplier has indicated that information and data are “verifiable”. The Verification Opinion is an independent assurance signed by the Verifier.
Verification FAQs
Who are verifiers?
Verifiers are third parties who have fiduciary responsibilities. A fiduciary is a professional who is bound by a code of ethics that obliges them to put the interests of their client, in this case the Supplier, ahead of their own interests. Verifiers who are ANSI certified or in good standing at any of the four existing major offset credit registries operating in the United States (American Climate Registry, California Air Resources Board Offset Program and Verra) are automatically whitelisted in the Nori market.
What are the verifiers looking at?
Verifiers are looking at a sampling of all records that provide enough evidence that your operation was run as stated in the Nori platform. Verifiers will be looking for records that support the overall narrative of agronomic management switching to conservation practices. The data they look for will lead to replicable and consistent results, such that independent parties are reasonably likely to come up with the same conclusions from the same records. Details that support this narrative are as follows:
Field ownership disclosure (in full)
Assignment of Principal Contact’s authority to register the project and control disposition of RTs, if the Primary Contact is not the sole landowner.
Switch Year
Records that your practice changed
The data that is in the Nori platform is correct
What constitutes verifiable data?
A verifier does a random sampling of records to see if the evidence in records is generally consistent with data in Nori platform. Any data the Supplier enters into Nori is subject to verification. Records include invoices, crop sales, receipts, time stamped, geo-located photos.
Acceptable Evidence by Practice Change:
Cover crop, adding perennials, biodiversity: Seed receipts, seed bags, pictures, etc.
Tillage, mowing, etc: receipts of tillage equipment sales or purchases, pictures of tillage equipment, pictures of field
Organic Matter Additions: Manure Management Plan Form, manure receipts, pictures of spread manure, pictures of manure pile (if on farm).
Are there ways to reduce costs of verification?
To keep verification costs to a minimum, communication and the accumulation and organization of your records is critical. Though, the rate will not be lowered, the verifier may add charges for any number of hours above what was expected in the bid.