Climate project registration

By parts 1 and 2 of Article 10 of Federal Law No. 296-FZ of July 2, 2021, “On Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” it is defined that information about climate projects is contained in the carbon units registry. The creation and maintenance of the registry are carried out by the operator, whose functions are performed by Joint-Stock Company “Contour,” according to the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 1, 2022, No. 367-r. The rules for creating and maintaining the carbon unit registry are defined by the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 30, 2022, No. 790 and in terms of climate project registration provide the following procedure:

• The executor of the climate project concludes a standard contract with the operator, the form of which is provided by the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 20, 2022, No. 905
• Within 5 working days from the date of conclusion of the contract, the operator opens an account for the executor in the carbon units registry
• The executor of the climate project submits to the operator an application for registration of the climate project with an attached documents previously provided to the validator, as well as validation report with a positive conclusion. The application for registration, together with the attached documents, is signed with a strengthened qualified electronic signature of the head of the executor of the climate project or another authorized person and is sent to the operator electronically using the federal state information system “Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services (Functions).” Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the application for registration of the climate project and the attached documents, the operator checks them for completeness and correctness of filling out and makes one of the following decisions:
  • If the application for registration of the climate project and the attached documents comply with the requirements of completeness and correctness, the operator registers the climate project within 10 working days from the date of completion of their verification, that is, makes an entry about it in the registry with assigning a unique number. Within 5 working days from the date of registration, the operator notifies the executor of the climate project by sending an information letter with an extract from the registry attached.
  • If the application for registration of the climate project and the attached documents do not comply with the requirements of completeness and correctness, the operator refuses to register the climate project, about which it notifies the executor of the climate project within 5 working days by sending a reasoned notification.
• During the month, the operator publishes the following information about the climate project on the official website:
  • information about the account holder in the registry;
  • individual number of the climate project;
  • name of the climate project;
  • place of implementation of the climate project;
  • start date and implementation period of the climate project;
  • a package of documents submitted to the validator with its positive conclusion on the compliance of the project with the criteria for classification as climatic;
  • information about the industry affiliation of the climate project according to the All-Russian Classifier of Types of Economic Activity;
  • information about the planned reduction (prevention) of greenhouse gas emissions and/or increase in their absorption;
  • information about the number of carbon units planned for issuance upon registration of the climate project;
  • information about the implementation of the climate project (current status);
  • a report on the implementation of the climate project, with an attachment of a report on the verification of the results of the implementation of the climate project, including a positive conclusion on the verification of the results of the implementation of the climate project, details of the specified documents, information on the number of carbon units released into circulation as a result of the implementation of the climate project, information about the accredited person
  • information about the total number of carbon units in circulation within the climate project.

Changes to the information about the climate project contained in the registry can be made by the executor, who submits a corresponding application to the operator and attaches supporting documents. The operator makes changes to the registry within 5 working days.

The maximum payment rates for the operator’s services for conducting operations in the carbon units registry are determined by the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 30, 2022, No. 518. The fee is determined independently by the operator within the limits specified by the Government, and the current tariffs are available on the official website at the link.

At the time of writing this material on April 24, 2024, the following tariffs apply for a climate project registration and changes to information about climate project: