Answering the "when" question
A carbon credit's “vintage” is the year an emission reduction occurred or the credit was issued. Usually, carbon credits are issued once they complete a third-party verification. The exact timeframe these credits are issued can vary depending upon the offset project. Some credits are issued annually, but others are issued every few years. Generally speaking, your organization should seek out carbon credits with vintages around the same timeframe as the emissions you are looking to offset.
Vintage often affects pricing and is sometimes used as an indicator of quality due to the thoroughness of monitoring that may have been present when the project was started. You should include the vintage as one of the many factors that you consider while picking a project. At Cloverly, we ensure that the vintages and documentation of monitoring and verification are easily accessible for you to be confident of the quality of the credits you are purchasing.
If you ever have questions on a particular project, or need guidance, please contact us.