Last week, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) released its full guidance for high-quality carbon crediting programs and categories of methodologies. The release follows a period of public comment in 2022 and the earlier release of the Assessment Framework and Core Carbon Principles. The ICVCM now expects to begin assessing carbon crediting programs later in 2023, with approved programs being able to use the IC-VCM label on their credits.
The release of the Assessment Framework and principles in 2022 received criticism from other carbon verification bodies, including Verra, who argued that the ICVCM was duplicating the work that other bodies had already done. The Assessment Framework heavily relies on the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and has faced criticism for offering airlines easy and cheap credits to claim “climate neutral.”
In response to feedback, the ICVCM streamlined its requirements by removing approximately 75-80% of the overlapping requirements with CORSIA, focusing instead on additional criteria that CORSIA-eligible programs need to demonstrate. The main criteria of the Assessment Framework are that credits must fund projects that transition the economy to net zero, are permanent and additional, and conservatively quantified to minimize the risk of overestimation.
The Gold Standard and Verra, two prominent carbon crediting programs, have released statements in response to the ICVCM’s announcement. The Gold Standard supports the framework and hopes it will raise the bar across the carbon crediting market. Verra is currently reviewing the ICVCM’s assessment framework and considering when to submit itself for assessment.
The major requirements in the Assessment Framework focus on governance, emissions impacts and sustainable development, benefits, and safeguards. The feedback received during the public comment period led to changes in the final version. For example, the ICVCM expanded the additionality requirements and created several pathways for it, based on feedback that a broader range of approaches and tools were being used in the market. The ICVCM also shifted its focus to high-level requirements for methodology development and created a transition pathway for programs to avoid burdensome full compliance immediately.
Overall, the ICVCM’s assessment framework aims to ensure high-quality carbon crediting programs and methodologies, with a focus on projects that transition the economy to net zero and are conservatively quantified. The framework has received feedback from various stakeholders, and the ICVCM has incorporated some of the suggestions into the final version.
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