Oka & CarbonPool place first Verra durability insurance

‍Wednesday 14 October, 2026: CarbonPool and Oka today announced a new insurance placement under Verra’s durability pilot, marking the first use of insurance as an alternative to buffer pool contributions under the programme.

The policy, taken out by developer Invert, provides protection against the risk of reversal, i.e., the risk that carbon previously credited as stored or avoided is unexpectedly re-released into the atmosphere, requiring affected issued credits to be replaced.

Buffer pools have historically been the primary mechanism used to manage reversals in the voluntary carbon market, requiring developers to make large contributions of credits at each issuance. Credits contributed to a buffer pool cannot be sold or financed, limiting investor returns, developer cash flows, and market supply.

As an alternative, Reversal Insurance has significant financial and market benefits. By transferring the risk to an insurer, qualifying projects can make a greater proportion of their issuance immediately available for sale or financing, while ensuring that a regulated financial mechanism is available to respond if a reversal occurs.

These placements bring together the expertise of two parties at the forefront of the carbon insurance market: CarbonPool, which has led the market conversation on regulated alternatives to the buffer pools, developed the Verra-approved insurance solution and structured the placement; and Oka provided specialist underwriting expertise and Lloyd’s insurance capacity.

Verra launched its three-year durability pilot in December 2025 to test alternatives, including insurance, to the buffer pool in Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) and Geological Carbon Storage (GCS) projects. Under the insurance pathway, participating projects can use qualifying cover instead of contributing a proportion of newly issued credits to Verra’s buffer pool account.

Stewart Duncan, Managing Director at Oka, said: “Buffer pools have played an important role in managing reversal risk, but they also lock up credits that could generate revenue for developers and reach buyers. Insurance offers a more capital-efficient way to protect against risk while allowing a greater share of issuance to reach the market, strengthening both market integrity and liquidity. Collaborating with CarbonPool under Verra’s Durability Pilot is an exciting culmination of our early work on buffer replacements, bringing one of Oka’s earliest carbon-insurance use cases into a registry-approved application.”

Nandini Wilcke, COO & Co-Founder at CarbonPool, said: “We’re proud to see Reversal Insurance come to life after more than three years of intensive dialogue with registries and other market stakeholders, especially developers and buyers, in search of a better way to manage reversal risk. We have built a cost-effective solution which works for projects and offers regulated, professional risk transfer - supported by reliable insurance capacity provided by Oka. This first placement demonstrates that reversal insurance is a workable, robust alternative to the buffer pool system, creating an important precedent and pathway that other high-quality projects and registries can follow.”

Mandy Rambharos, CEO at Verra, said: “We are delighted to see CarbonPool and Oka’s insurance placement of Invert, whose projects have been approved to participate in Verra’s durability pilot. Markets grow by learning how to manage risk, and with this pilot Verra is actively advancing innovative ways for addressing durability. The first insurance placement under the pilot is proof that such regulated risk management is feasible, and scaling.”

Andre Fernandez, CEO at Invert Inc., said: “Seeing this first-of-its-kind insurance solution come to market represents the culmination of many years of effort to build a more capital-efficient carbon ecosystem. Replacing static buffer pools with regulated risk transfer unlocks vital capital for project growth while offering buyers the institutional credibility and market stability they need. We are excited to lead this shift under Verra’s durability pilot and demonstrate a clear, bankable path forward for high-integrity carbon development.”

Verra’s durability pilot is open to eligible AFOLU and GCS projects registered under the Verified Carbon Standard. Participating projects remain subject to Verra’s project eligibility, non-permanence risk assessment, and insurance requirements.

To learn more about the policy, including whether your project is eligible under the pilot, please get in touch.