Monitoring and Verification

Monitoring will be conducted throughout the project lifespan. In addition to internal verification to ensure accurate quantification, external parties will be engaged for an independent review of adherence to both the defined protocol and industry standards, as well as to validate quantification of net carbon removal. Impartial reviews must be conducted at each relevant stage of the project, and include external stakeholder consultation. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Scientific review of the intervention approach and research plans prior to deployments via an independent Scientific Advisory Board. For Running Tide, this independent Board is currently convened by Ocean Visions and is composed of relevant subject matter experts.

• Ongoing peer-review of protocols for quantifying net carbon removed via external parties and industry experts, along with open public feedback and consultation.

• Independent expert review of project-specific environmental impact assessments by a certified auditor.

• Independent audit of actual project operations compared against protocol and pre-deployment monitoring plans, including adherence to relevant industry standards, such as the GHG Protocol Inventory Best Practices and ISO 14064-2, by a certified auditor.

• Independently reviewed emissions accounting and relevant LCAs for all project emissions.

• Full end-to-end carbon quantification and leakage analysis prior to issuance of carbon removal credits. This includes an evaluation of models and assumptions grounded in empirical data and allows for confirmation of the accuracy of project results by an independent party.

Over time, along with the project-specific oversight detailed above, data and procedures across all deployments should be audited on an annual basis by an independent third party.

To the extent possible, records of necessary project documentation that are required for issuance will be made available for review. This includes but is not limited to:

• Pre- and post-environmental and social impact and risk assessments.

• Permitting records from all relevant local, regional, national, and intergovernmental/ international agencies.

• Records of community engagement, feedback, and grievance mechanisms.

• Supplier attestations for raw material sources, as well as records of material source locations and transportation details.

• Details on all observational instruments used and their role in quantification.

• Detailed descriptions of models used and how they support replicable quantification of project results, including quantitative benchmarking and uncertainty quantification.

Transparency into project processes and independent review are critical to building trust in the underlying carbon removal accounting system.