Designated Operational Entities

What is a designated operational entity?

A designated operational entity (DOE) is an independent auditor accredited by the CDM Executive Board (CDM EB) to validate project proposals or verify whether implemented projects have achieved planned greenhouse gas emission reductions.

More specifically, the two key functions of DOEs are:
  • Validation:assessing whether a project proposal meets the eligibility requirements and subsequently request registration of the project by the CDM EB.
  • Verification/certification: verifying emission reductions from a project, certify as appropriate, and recommend to the CDM EB the amount of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) that should be issued.

Usually, for large scale projects, a DOE may only conduct either validation or verification of the same project. However, upon request, the CDM EB may allow a single DOE to perform both functions (validation and verification/certification).

How to become a DOE?

Overview diagramme on how to become a DOE DOE diagramme

To become a DOE an organisation has to:

  • Ensure that it complies with the requirements of the CDM Accreditation Standard for DOE
  • Pay the application fee
  • Submit the required application forms and supporting documentation
  • Be assessed by the CDM Assessment Team, CDM Accreditation Panel and CDM EB

Application for Accreditation

Follow the Accreditation Requirements

Request Banking Information

  • Banking information required for the payment of the non-reimbursable application fee may be requested from the secretariat (cdm-accreditation@unfccc.int), by indicating a fax number, address and a contact person to whom the information should be forwarded.

Fill and submit Application Form

  • Applicant entities will be given access to the CDM accreditation web interface, the CDM Accreditation Workflow System upon request to cdm-accreditation@unfccc.int. The application form is filled online, through the web interface. Refer to the CDM Accreditation Procedure and to the Forms page for further details on required supporting documentation.
  • Applicant entities can find more information on how to apply through the CDM Accreditation Workflow System by consulting the following user guide.

Pay Application Fee

  • The non-reimbursable application fee is US$ 15,000.
  • Applicant operational entities have the possibility of paying 50% of the non-reimbursable fee when applying for accreditation. The remaining 50% of the fee should be paid at a later stage once and if the operational entity is accredited and designated and starts operation.
  • Please note that further costs are associated with the accreditation process in order to cover additional assessments, the details for which are described in Appendix 4 of the CDM Accreditation Procedure

Assessment process

Contact

List of AEs

The CDM accreditation procedure provides an opportunity for the Parties, accredited NGOs and stakeholders to provide input on the applicant entities seeking accreditation with the CDM EB. The following page lists all applicant entities and allows to submit public input on the new applicant entities and to view the inputs received in the past. more »

List of DOEs

The Executive Board, in accordance with paragraph 20 of the CDM modalities and procedures, shall mantain a publicly available list of designated operational entities. The following page will provide you with the list of accredited and provisionally designated DOEs for validation functions. These entities are accredited for the sectoral scopes shown below in the table and qualify to submit requests for project registration and issuance of CERs in these sectoral scopes. more »

Contact

Potential applicant entities should send email to cdm-accreditation@unfccc.int