For carbon credit buyers / Before the transaction

Ask better questions.
Follow the evidence.

Use this checklist to prepare a document request for a nature-based carbon credit offer. Mark an item when you have recorded the answer and its source.

Progress tracks your preparation, not the project’s quality or approval. A document being available does not establish that its assumptions or conclusions are sound. This is an introductory evidence-request tool, not a completed due-diligence assessment.

See Ecosilv’s existing project experience →

0 of 12 items recorded

Identify exactly what is offered

Project identityAsk for the registry, project ID and direct registry record—not only a marketing brochure.Units and vintagesAsk for the vintage years, quantity, issuance status and relevant serial ranges. Distinguish issued credits from a promise of future delivery.Seller’s roleClarify whether the counterparty owns the units, represents a seller or acts as a broker, and who receives fees or commissions.

Follow the project evidence

Project and monitoring documentsRequest the project description, applicable methodology and version, latest monitoring report and validation or verification reports.Baseline and additionalityAsk what would happen without the project, what supports that conclusion and how assumptions are updated.Measurement and uncertaintyAsk how sampling, biomass equations, remote-sensing models and baseline assumptions support the estimate, and which uncertainties or data gaps remain.Reversal and leakage risksAsk how reversals, activity-shifting and market leakage are assessed. Request the applicable buffer rules, monitoring commitments and evidence of reported losses; a buffer does not prevent physical carbon loss.Rights and safeguardsRequest evidence on relevant land rights, stakeholder participation, benefit sharing and grievance processes.

Clarify the transaction and intended use

Availability and deliveryAsk what quantity is still available, who controls it, and what transfer or retirement arrangement is proposed.Eligibility claimsIf a use such as CORSIA is proposed, request evidence for the specific units and compliance period. A project description alone does not establish eligibility.Retirement and claimsAgree who retires the units, for whose benefit, and what evidence will be provided. Assess intended public claims separately.Outstanding issuesAsk for unresolved verification findings, known disputes, material changes and any limitations in the information supplied.

Ask the question that fits the project

ARR: What regeneration or planting would occur without carbon finance, and how is that reflected in the baseline?

IFM: What supports the assumed management without the project, and how are harvesting, wood products and displaced supply treated?

REDD: What evidence supports the expected level and location of forest loss, and how are intervention effects and displacement assessed?

These examples do not replace the selected methodology or a project-specific review. Keep an item unchecked if you still need to request evidence, even when a document has already been supplied.

Turn the gaps into a request.

Generate a draft using the items you have not yet recorded. Edit it before sharing with a project developer or seller.

Selections stay in this page’s memory and reset when you reload. Nothing is submitted or sent.

Sources & review

Content reviewed 23 September 2026. Check current programme versions and effective dates for each transaction.

ICVCM Core Carbon Principles · Verra project cycle · Verra on durability

Find the project in the explorer · Read the carbon guide

This preparation checklist is not a rating, certification, legal review or finding about an individual project. For CORSIA, consult ICAO’s programme and unit eligibility requirements and verify the applicable conditions with the registry.