Issue 24 “Offsetting CO₂ emissions” newsletter, 30th of June 2026
In this newsletter, the Compensation Office informs you about important decisions, innovations and publications on the subject of offsetting Switzerland's carbon emissions.
1. Mandatory site visit to inspect offsetting projects abroad before verification
Validation and verification bodies (VVBs) are now required to conduct a site visit in offsetting projects abroad as part of the verification process of the first monitoring report. Previously, VVBs were expected to inspect projects on site, but exceptions were possible if reasonable grounds were given. If a project has not yet been inspected, a site visit must be carried out during the next monitoring period. This also applies to projects for which a monitoring report is currently being verified as at 30 June 2026. The FOEN and the applicant must be informed in good time of the date of the visit so that they can attend if necessary (Art. 9 para. 3bis CO2 Ordinance). In the validation process there is no requirement to inspect a project in a site visit; however the VVB must assess whether such a visit is appropriate. For example, the VVB may need to ascertain that the project did not exist prior to the declared start date of implementation. If the VVB considers that a site visit is unnecessary during the validation process, it must explicitly justify this in its validation report. For projects carried out in Switzerland, the current practice remains unchanged (see the FOEN communication ‘Offsetting CO2 emissions: validation and verification’, Section 7.3).
2. PDF invoices via email
It is now possible to register to receive invoices from the FOEN as a PDF via email. You can find more information about this service here:
Link to registration:
3. Submitting documents with an electronic signature via CORE platform
Documents relating to applications and monitoring reports may now only be submitted by the VVB via the CORE information and documentation system. It is no longer possible to submit documents by email or post. Similarly, signed originals of project descriptions and monitoring reports may no longer be submitted by post, as only digitally signed documents are now accepted. This requirement has been in place since publication of the 23rd newsletter on 19 January 2026. The three-month transition period has expired.
Applicants for projects in Switzerland must now sign documents with a qualified electronic signature (QES) (see link below). VVBs should actively draw their attention to this requirement at the start of the validation or verification process. In partner countries where a QES is not available or is difficult to obtain, in exceptional cases the applicant’s original documents may be submitted via CORE without a recognised electronic signature, with a simple electronic signature or a scanned handwritten signature. A simple electronic signature or a scanned handwritten signature is sufficient in the case of validation and verification reports issued by VVBs whose staff are registered on the CORE portal under their own names and who have been authorised to use the portal by their VVB.
All signed documents must be submitted in an electronically searchable format. If the full text of documents containing a scanned handwritten signature is not searchable, a searchable version without the signature must be attached to the VVB report in CORE. This also applies to the redacted public version of signed documents.
This process has not yet been updated in the FOEN publications ‘Offsetting CO2 emissions: projects and programmes’ and ‘Offsetting CO2 emissions: validation and verification’; these will be amended at a later date.
The date of submission is deemed to be the date on which CORE registers receipt of the submitted documents; this is confirmed legally binding once the application is found to be complete.
4. Publication of new documents
Documents relating to agreements with partner countries (e.g. fNRB agreements) are made available on the ‘Projects abroad’ page under the ‘Projects and Documents’ section for the respective partner countries.
5. New templates published
New templates for project descriptions (PB 7.1), monitoring reports (MB 5.1) and Mitigation Activity Summaries (MAS, version 3.3) are now available online.
Once a new version of a template has been published, the existing version ceases to be valid after a transition period of 93 days. It is recommended to always refer to the most recent version (with the highest number), as this contains the most up-to-date information and corrections (typos, clarity and presentation).
The latest versions of the application templates can be found here:
More information on the validity of individual templates can be found her