Project Grievance Redress Procedure
The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) v4.5 requires all Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) projects to include a three-stage Grievance Redress Procedure, as defined below. The Project will follow this procedure to receive, respond to, and attempt to resolve all grievances or disputes with local stakeholders that may arise during project planning and implementation:
- The project proponent shall attempt to amicably resolve all grievances and provide a written response within approximately 7 business days of receipt.
- Any grievances that are not resolved by amicable negotiations shall be referred to mediation by a neutral third party.
- Any grievances that are not resolved through mediation shall be referred either to a) arbitration, to the extent allowed by the laws of the relevant jurisdiction or b) competent courts in the relevant jurisdiction, without prejudice to a party’s ability to submit the grievance to a competent supranational adjudicatory body, if any.
Contact Information for Grievance Submission and Documentation
Daniel Bitz, Director of Surface Asset Strategy, CNX Green Ventures, will serve as the primary contact for all grievance submissions and resolution.
Grievances submitted by email may be set to daniel.bitz@cnx.com, bseely@climeco.com,
eromano@climeco.com, and dfrasca@climeco.com. Please include "Appalachian Valley IFM Project Grievance" in your email subject line. If a grievance submitted vial email is not addressed within 7 business days, please make a second attempt via the project website or post, as messages submitted via email are occasionally auto-sorted into Spam Folders.
Grievances submitted by post may be sent to CNX Green Ventures, 1000 Horizon Vue Drive, Canonsburg PA, 15317 Attention: Daniel Bitz. Grievances shared via mail will be reviewed and responses will be postmarked within 7 business days of receipt.
All documentation, including the procedure and documentation of disputes, will be made publicly available online at Verra.org.