First of all, voluntary carbon markets are a major tool in the solution, even if they are not the only lever to activate. It is essential to apply the mitigation hierarchy (measurement, avoidance, reduction and then carbon offsetting) in order to reach our climate targets.

However, carbon credits are one of the only realistic levers of action that can accelerate and finance the ecological transition and the reduction of anthropogenic GHG emissions on a large scale. The UNFCCC supports the use of voluntary carbon credits as an essential step towards “Net Zero” from 2030 to 2050.

Second, our premium carbon credits deliver not only GHG reductions at the source but also additional climate and societal benefits. Indeed, our carbon credits are 100% local, are derived from GHG reductions at source (ex-post), are serialized, offer a high monetary return to small and medium-sized initial project developers, are verified by a structured MRV (Monitoring Reporting and Validation) program including third-party verification (Verra) and contribute to 6 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In conclusion, high-quality carbon credits are therefore an essential transitional tool that allows organizations committed to an ESG or Net Zero policy to go beyond the carbon reduction of their activities by offsetting their incompressible residual emissions and at the same time contributing to the financing of GHG reduction projects of other stakeholders!

We ensure single counting (and therefore avoid double counting) through various measures:

• Serialization: all our carbon credits have a unique serial number, ensuring the uniqueness of each carbon credit and its indelible link to the associated ton of CO2e.
• Dual public registry: our third-party verifier Verra maintains a public registry, but we also maintain our public registry Will to ensure quality control, accessibility and transparency for all to our carbon inventory.
• Retirement: all of our carbon credits are retired following a purchase, for the benefit of the buyer and to ensure ownership of the associated GHG reductions.
• Control: we control the entire value chain, from the production of GHG reductions to the sale of carbon credits. This gives us better overall control over the standards of quantification, transparency, serialization and conversion of a ton of CO2e into a carbon credit.

We ensure the additionality of GHG reduction projects at different levels:

• Financial additionality: based on Will’s business model which is based on the sharing economy, i.e. to finance and assume all the risks of the quantification and monetization process for all participants (members). Thus, without the carbon revenues from sales, the Sustainable Community cluster project (developed according to the VM0018 methodology) would not exist.
• Unique business model: our core mission is to expand participation in climate action to all stakeholders in society by facilitating and democratizing access to voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) for tens of thousands of organizations/voluntary reducers. That’s why we offer them a no-cost, no-risk service to remove disincentives and provide a unique incentive for the financing and development of decarbonization projects. Moreover, the vast majority of these reducers would not have been able to realistically access the voluntary markets on their own (costs, time, expertise), to carry out the monetization process of their GHG reductions.
• Methodology: our business model is based on the VM0018 methodology (version 1.0), the world’s first cluster methodology and certified by the VCS program (in 2012). All of our carbon credits come from cluster projects (Sustainable Community) which are based on this methodology. This ensures from the start the specifications of each Sustainable Community, which are the basis of our carbon credits, ensuring at the source the quality standards as well as the additionality, aligned with those of Verra. Thus, it is approximately 50% of the projects submitted by our GHG reducing members that we have to reject, as they do not meet the eligibility and additionality requirements defined by this methodology. In January 2023, Will entered into a process to update this methodology to include GHG reductions related to the transportation segment.
• MRV Process: Each GHG reduction project that qualifies under Will’s Sustainable Communities is subject to a Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) process that is performed in harmony with the updated versions of Verra’s VCS program, currently version 4.4. At the end of the MRV process, our accepted and quantified GHG reductions are submitted to a Verra-recognized third-party verifier. Finally, Verra performs a final validation to obtain and issue the VCU serialization associated with each carbon credit.

Our Sustainable Community of Quebec (SQC) cluster project is currently supporting more than 2500 carbon reduction micro-projects! Buying our carbon credits allows you to simultaneously contribute to the financing of all these projects at once!

Our Sustainable Community project allows you to contribute to regional GHG reductions in Quebec (CDQ) and the Sustainable Community of Ontario (CDO). Through your purchase, you contribute to a more local and circular economy, and to the support of small local GHG reducers (SMEs, municipalities and NPOs – our Sustainable Community members).

All our members’ projects are source-reduction projects. The GHG reductions have been achieved (ex-post) before being converted into verified carbon credits, so they have an immediate impact, are guaranteed, and are fully permanent.

Through your carbon purchase, you contribute directly to reducing the carbon intensity of the economy, industry and infrastructure. Your purchase also contributes to the support of the green economy and to Canadian know-how in this field.

Finally, there are three main categories of eligible projects: energy conversion (e.g. switching from oil to solar panels), energy efficiency (e.g. thermal insulation of a building or reduction of energy consumption of a building through its optimization by artificial intelligence) or optimization of waste management (e.g. recycling of waste and reuse as raw material). Scheduled for the end of 2024, projects related to the decarbonization of transport should be added to our eligible project types!