The Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative (VCMI) has published its Claims Code of Practice, providing companies with a rulebook for voluntary use of carbon credits and associated claims on the pathway to net zero.
This brings integrity to the demand-side of the voluntary carbon markets (VCMs), a growing but largely unregulated field that allows carbon emitters to offset their unavoidable emissions by purchasing carbon credits. These credits are generated by projects that remove or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as reforestation, building renewable energy, carbon-storing agricultural practices and waste and landfill management.
By giving companies a rulebook to follow for making credible climate claims, the Claims Code will help build market confidence in how they engage with VCMs, says the VCMI in a June 28 statement.
The Claims Code consists of four steps that a company must undertake in order to file a VCMI claim. The company must first meet VCMI’s foundational criteria, which includes publicly committing to a science-aligned long-term net-zero target no later than 2050, setting and making public interim reduction targets and publicly disclosing a climate transition plan, climate action plan or strategy.
Next, companies must choose from three tiers of VCMI claims available: Platinum, Gold or Silver. Each tier recognises investment in emission reductions and removals above and beyond corporate action to meet their science-aligned targets.
The VCMI will release additional guidance in November, specifically on the VCMI measurement, reporting and assurance (MRA) framework, additional claim tiers and claim names.
Thirdly, companies must select carbon credits that are in line with the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles. The 10 principles are a global benchmark for high-integrity carbon credits. Launched in April, the criteria span governance, emissions impact and sustainable development.
See also: Are carbon credits credible?
Finally, the company must disclose information to support its claim and conduct independent validation and assurance in line with the VCMI framework to be published in November.
The Claims Code is the culmination of over 12 months of road-testing by companies, public consultations and multi-stakeholder collaboration, following the publication of the provisional Claims Code in June 2022.
VCMI is an independent non-profit organisation housed in Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. VCMI was announced by COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma in March 2021, and has received co-funding from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Ballmer Group, the Bezos Earth Fund, Google LLC, the Packard Foundation and the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
VCMs have been caught up in controversies involving cheap and low-quality carbon credits that do not avoid or remove greenhouse gas emissions. Verra, a global leading carbon standard, was criticised earlier this year for issuing phantom rainforest offsets.
Against a backdrop of recent criticism, we are now at a juncture where only consistent, well-considered global guidance can underpin a high-quality market and stimulate the rapid scaling of corporate use we need, says Rachel Kyte, co-chair of VCMI’s Steering Committee. “The Claims Code will give greater confidence and develop trust in those who use it. If you build integrity, trust will follow, and trust is the foundation of a high-value, high-impact market.”
Razan Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, says: “This is a decisive decade and a decisive year for tackling climate change. We are woefully off-track from where we need to be and we need to use all the tools in the box, working at full pace. The voluntary carbon market is one tool that can mobilise the much-needed finance to low and middle-income countries towards climate solutions that will accelerate the net zero transition. It’s not too late to drive progress, and the VCMI Claims Code released today is a welcome step forward.”
Infographics: VCMI
