Applicants
Below you will find an overview of the legal requirements and conditions for submitting applications to the Compensation Office for offsetting projects in Switzerland and abroad.
The below series of questions and answers explains what is required when submitting an application. The necessary templates can also be found on this page.
1. Which pieces of legislation apply?
Offsetting projects must meet the legal requirements applicable in Switzerland to receive attestation from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). These requirements are set out in Articles 6 and 7 of the CO₂ Act and the associated provisions of the CO₂ Ordinance. Offsetting projects must also meet all other applicable legal requirements.
Fedlex: CO2 Ordinance (Versions before 01.05.2025)
Offsetting projects abroad are carried out in accordance with international obligations under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. The projects comply with both Swiss legislation and the laws of the partner country. They contribute to sustainable development in the partner country.
Federal Office for the Environment FOEN: Bilateral climate agreements
2. What specific requirements must a project meet?
The enforcement aid entitled ‘Offsetting CO2 emissions: projects and programmes’ relating to the CO2 Ordinance provides guidelines on developing offsetting projects that meet the Swiss legal requirements.
In general, the following requirements apply:
- The projects are additional, i.e. they achieve emission reductions that would not otherwise be achieved;
- The projects are not economically feasible, i.e. they could not be implemented without the revenue from the sale of attestations;
- The emission reductions are calculated conservatively, are verifiable and quantifiable;
- Double counting is not permitted, i.e. emission reductions may not be credited elsewhere, for example to another organisation or another country.
The processes of the Compensation Office for projects abroad, from the submission of applications to the issuing of international attestations, as well as various requirements for specific measures abroad are described in more detail in the following document.
3. How do I draw up an application (project outline/MAIN, project description/MADD or monitoring report)?
The processes for submitting project outlines/MAIN, project descriptions/MADD and monitoring reports are presented in the following illustrations.
3.1 Project outline (domestic projects)/MAIN (projects abroad) (optional)
Applicants may submit a project or programme outline for preliminary assessment. For projects abroad, this project outline is called the Mitigation Activity Idea Note (MAIN). Applicants are not required to submit this project outline; however, it is recommended for project types and methods that have not yet been approved by the Compensation Office.
There is no template available for MAIN.
3.2 Project description/MADD
Following feedback from the Compensation Office and/or the partner country (in the case of projects/programmes for which an outline has been submitted), the applicants draw up the project description. They may also begin directly with the project description. This is then validated by an approved validator and verifier (VV). For projects abroad, the project description is called the Mitigation Activity Design Document (MADD). The VV submits the reviewed project description with its validation report to the Compensation Office and the partner state for registration.
Templates (available in German, French and Italian) for submitting new projects/programmes for initial registration or after revalidation, for example when substantial changes are made to a project that has already been registered:
There is no specific MADD template for applications for offsetting projects abroad, as partner countries may require the use of their own templates. However, applications must include the completed Mitigation Activity Summary (MAS) as an annex to the MADD. This ensures that all requirements in Swiss law are met.
3.3 Monitoring report
The applicant records the data in a monitoring report as proof of the emission reductions from the approved projects. The monitoring report covers a maximum period of three years and must be submitted to the Compensation Office no later than one year after the end of the period. The monitoring report is then reviewed by a VV. This VV may not be the same as that which reviewed the project description.
Templates for submitting monitoring reports:
4. Who can validate and verify an application?
The following VVs are approved by the FOEN:
For projects abroad, the VV must also be approved by the partner country. Please refer to information provided by the partner countries.
Further information on the validators and verifiers
5. Where do I submit an application?
1. Project outlines must be submitted online via the CORE platform. The following guidelines will help applicants to do this:
2. The VVs submit validation reports and verification reports together with annexes (incl. project description or monitoring report) directly by email to kop-ch@bafu.admin.ch (projects in Switzerland) or carbonoffset@bafu.admin.ch (projects abroad). Applicants cannot submit these documents themselves. These reports must be submitted by the VVs before applicants send their validated project descriptions or verified monitoring reports to the FOEN (step below); an application is complete once received by post.
3. Validated project descriptions and verified monitoring reports must be submitted duly signed by post to the Compensation Office (Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, Compensation Office, Sector Climate, 3003 Bern, Switzerland). The postmark date is taken as the submission date.
6. How is an application or monitoring report assessed by the Compensation Office?
The process for evaluating the validated MADD for projects/programmes abroad is shown in the following diagram:
The process for evaluating the verified monitoring report for compensation projects/programmes abroad is shown in the following diagram:
The processes of the Compensation Office for projects abroad, from the submission of applications to the issuing of international attestations, as well as various requirements for specific measures abroad are described in more detail in the following document.
7. Where do I find the latest information on conducting an offsetting project?
The ‘Offsetting CO2 emissions’ newsletter informs project applicants, VVs, entities subject to the offsetting obligation and other stakeholders about important developments, decisions, innovations and publications regarding carbon emissions offsetting in Switzerland and abroad.