The publication of the Core Carbon Principles criteria for carbon programs is an important first step for strengthening confidence and should be closely followed by market participants.
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) is a governance body that seeks to establish and enforce global standards for carbon credit quality. For projects to issue (CCP)-labeled credits, they’ll need to use a CCP-approved methodology that complies with specific category criteria. In March, the ICVCM released the final version of the CCPs, the criteria for application at the program level, and its assessment framework. A second publication will specify how the CCPs should be applied at the category level, which is a grouping of mitigation activities that share the same activity type, program, methodology version, and other common features such as location.
We believe that potential categories used by the ICVCM may include improved forest management, reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+), and afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation. Project methodologies that fall within an would be issued CCP-labeled credits. The first approvals of programs that apply to become CCP eligible are scheduled to be made in Q3 2023.
