# Climate project additionality: how to demonstrate it

> Additionality means the emission reduction would not have happened without the climate project. We walk through the tests: regulatory, investment, barrier and common practice.

Source: https://7g.carbonplatform.asia/en/kb/additionality

Additionality is proof that an emission reduction would not have happened without the climate project and the revenue from carbon units. If the measure would have been carried out anyway — because the law requires it, because the benefit is obvious or because it is common practice — the units issued do not reflect a real contribution to the climate.

## Why it is the key quality criterion

Additionality is one of the 10 ICVCM Core Carbon Principles, alongside permanence, robust quantification and no double counting (see [ICVCM principles](https://7g.carbonplatform.asia/en/kb/icvcm-ccp)). The buyer of a unit pays for a tonne that would not otherwise exist. If the project is not additional, offsetting emissions with that unit changes nothing in the atmosphere, and the buyer's claim becomes a [greenwashing](https://7g.carbonplatform.asia/en/kb/greenwashing) risk.

## Main tests

The specific set of tests is defined by the program methodology. The most common are:

1. **Regulatory test.** The measure must not be required by law. If a regulation mandates heat recovery, the heat recovery itself is not additional.
2. **Investment analysis.** It shows that without carbon revenue the project is financially unattractive compared with the alternative (for example, its internal rate of return falls short of a benchmark), while with it the project becomes viable.
3. **Barrier analysis.** Technological, institutional or skills barriers that prevent implementation without carbon finance.
4. **Common practice analysis.** If the technology is already widely used in the region and industry, additionality is hard to demonstrate.
5. **Standardized approaches.** Some methodologies use positive lists of technologies or threshold values; if the conditions are met, additionality is deemed demonstrated.

## Investment analysis example

A heat pump project costs 1,000,000 currency units (CU). Energy savings come to 90,000 CU a year, which gives a payback period of about 11 years without carbon revenue. The company approves investments with a payback period of no more than 7 years (this threshold must be backed by internal documents, not invented for the project). The expected reduction is 80 t CO₂e a year. For the payback to become acceptable, annual income must rise to 1,000,000 / 7 ≈ 143,000 CU, which means carbon revenue must reach about 53,000 CU a year.

The verifier's conclusion will depend on whether such a unit price is realistic in the market. If it is not, the carbon revenue does not change the decision, and the additionality argument is weak. This is exactly how one checks that the units really “switch on” the project.

## Common mistakes

- The investment decision was made before carbon revenue was considered, and this is not documented.
- The return threshold was tailored to the project, without support in the company's internal policy.
- The fact that the measure became mandatory under a new regulation was overlooked.
- Energy savings were calculated against one [baseline](https://7g.carbonplatform.asia/en/kb/project-baseline) and the reduction against another.

## How it works in the platform

- The MRV contour is still in development and is marked “Soon” in the platform: additionality justifications, investment analysis and project documents are not yet handled in it.
- To make sure savings and reductions rest on the same data, take the facility's actual consumption from [Data entry](https://7g.carbonplatform.asia/data-entry): electricity, heat and fuel are entered there month by month, with invoices and certificates of completion attached.
- The facility year's “Change history” shows who changed what and when, and a closed year is read-only — this helps you reconstruct the data timeline for the verifier. Read more in the article on [closing the year and the annual report](https://7g.carbonplatform.asia/en/kb/year-closing-and-report).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can a project with state support be additional?

It depends on the program rules and national regulation. If state support by itself makes the project profitable, additionality is harder to demonstrate. In Uzbekistan, the criteria for “green projects” and state support are set by the Cabinet of Ministers — check [regulatory documents](https://7g.carbonplatform.asia/en/kb/documents).

### Do corporate measures that don't generate units need to demonstrate additionality?

No. If a company simply cuts its own emissions and reflects this in its inventory, additionality is not required. It is needed when reductions are turned into carbon units to be transferred to others.

### When is additionality assessed?

At project validation and, under the rules of some programs, when the crediting period is renewed.