29 August 2017: Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN), in partnership with the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, have launched a mechanism for integrating women’s quantifiable empowerment and social benefits into carbon project implementation.

WOCAN’s ‘W+ Standard’ is partnering with the VCS Program, a global standard for the voluntary carbon market, to offer Verified Carbon Units (VCUs), jointly labeled under both standards.

Project developers can apply the W+ Standard to demonstrate contributions to women’s empowerment, implementation of SDG 5 (gender equality) and advancing progress on Corporate Social Responsibility interests.

Project developers can apply the W+ Standard to demonstrate contributions to women’s empowerment, implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 (gender equality) and advancing progress on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) interests.

Designed for implementation with carbon or non-carbon projects, the W+ Standard contains specific categories to measure women’s empowerment against, including: leadership; health; food security; time, income and assets; and education and knowledge. The W+ Standards seeks to drive investments to projects that support women’s empowerment and recognize their contributions to climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience, among others.

WOCAN and VCS are expected to present their partnership and the W+ Standard during the Climate Week in New York, US. [WOCAN Press Release] [VCS Press Release]