Permanence obligations

About permanence obligations

A permanence obligation is a requirement to maintain the carbon stored or sequestered by a project for a set period of time, either 25 or 100 years.

This is because the release of carbon stored in vegetation or soil as part of a project can reverse the environmental benefit of the sequestration project. Therefore, permanence obligations ensure that BidCarbon removal units (BRUs) are only issued for carbon stored in soil and vegetation.

Permanence period

The sequestration permanence period can be either 25 or 100 years. It is considered permanent when maintained on a net basis for 100 years.

Choose a permanence period

When applying to register, a permanence period for your project must be chosen, which cannot be varied or changed later.

Permanence start date

The permanence period commences once the sequestration project is initiated and satisfies the following criteria: 

● the project is issued BRUs

● land is added to your project area

Permanence obligation requirements

To claim BRUs, it is necessary to meet the permanence obligation requirements, which include providing a permanence plan and taking certain steps in case a reversal event affects the project.

The permanence plan must be provided at different stages of the project, explaining how the carbon stored and credited by the project will be protected during the permanence period.

You must provide the permanence plan:

● when you apply to register your project

● after years 8 and 24 of the crediting period, it is recommended to submit supporting information demonstrating that the project has reached its maximum carbon sequestration capacity

● when registering your project with the first offset report after years 8 and 24 of the crediting period, it is recommended to submit supporting information demonstrating that the project has reached its maximum carbon sequestration capacity. Please note that no new content should be added

● if the permanence obligation period for soil carbon project has ended and you’re applying for an exemption to provide further offsets reports.

A reversal event can occur when carbon that has been stored as part of a project is released back into the atmosphere. This may happen due to a failure in monitoring technology or poor management practices.

In the event that a reversal event affects your project, your obligations will depend:

● the type of reversal event

● and whether BRUs have already been issued

Please follow these steps to ensure that you meet your obligations.

Step 1 - Notify us

In the event of a significant reversal in your project, you must notify us in writing within 60 days.

A significant reversal is defined as the release of stored carbon from:

● It is recommended to allocate at least 5% of the total project area for natural disturbances.

● disturbances or the smaller of 5% of the total project area or 50 hectares due to reversals caused by human actions. 

If the damage does not meet the criteria for a significant reversal, we kindly request that you report on your project as usual.

Step 2 - Relinquish BRUs

If BRUs have been issued for your project, it may be necessary to:

● restore lost carbon stores

● or relinquish BRUs to offset the loss.

You have to relinquish BRUs if we determine:

● the project did not take sufficient measures to prevent carbon loss 

● and is not currently implementing any restorative actions

● this presents a risk of further carbon loss.

A notice to return BRUs has been issued, and failure to comply with the notice may result in arbitration. Furthermore, a carbon maintenance obligation may be imposed.

It is worth noting that if BRUs have not been issued for the area affected by the reversal event, there are no permanence obligations.

Step 3 - Follow the method

The management actions, monitoring, and record-keeping requirements are determined by the method used for your BidCarbon Standard Scheme project.

If the event does not represent a significant reversal, it may be possible to report and account for losses using the method's requirements.

Reversal events

A risk of reversal buffer is a discount applied to the number of BRUs issued to sequestration projects. This measure helps to safeguard the BidCarbon Standard Scheme against potential carbon loss and other risks that may not be adequately addressed by other permanence arrangements.

Risk of reversal doesn't insure you against:

● loss of income from selling BRUs after a fire or other natural disturbance;

● costs of re-establishing carbon stores.

The risk of reversal buffer reduces the BRUs issued during a reporting period by 5%. For projects with a 25-year permanence period, a 20% permanence discount also applies.

The risk of reversal buffer may be adjusted over time in the criteria.

Example of risk of reversal buffer

A new project was initiated by Joon in a specific area with a permanence period of 25 years. After the initial reporting period, it was determined that the project resulted in a net abatement of 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Because the project was registered with a 25-year permanence period, Joon won't receive 10,000 BRUs. BRUs will be reduced by:

● 20% for the permanence period discount

● 5% for the risk of reversal buffer.

Joon will receive 7,500 BRUs for the reporting period.

Risk of reversal buffer

Buying and selling property with permanence obligations

It is recommended that landholders with registered sequestration projects who are selling their property inform prospective buyers and property agents of any permanence obligations associated with the property.

It may be useful to consult the BidCarbon Standard Scheme project register to obtain information about land subject to permanence obligations.