The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has launched the first carbon-crediting programmes assessed as meeting the high-integrity criteria set out in its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs).

Organisations ACR, Climate Action Reserve (CAR) and Gold Standard have been approved as CCP-Eligible programmes by the Integrity Council’s Governing Board. To achieve eligibility means the programs meet the CCP criteria for effective governance, transparency, tracking and robust independent third-party validation and verification. They have also met the programme-related rules for the CCPs on robust quantification of emission reductions and removals, no double counting and sustainable development benefits and safeguards.

In due course, ACR, CAR, Gold Standard and other CCP-Eligible programmes, when approved, will be eligible to use the CCP label on new and existing carbon credits that are issued under CCP-approved methodologies. In combination, the Integrity Council’s assessments of carbon-crediting programmes and methodologies aim to define what a high-integrity carbon credit looks like.

As CCP-Eligible programmes, ACR, CAR and Gold Standard are now subject to the ongoing assurance and oversight functions of the Integrity Council, to ensure continued adherence to the CCP rules.

Annette Nazareth, Integrity Council chair, said: “We are launching a new chapter for the voluntary carbon market: the CCPs set a global benchmark for high-integrity, building trust, increasing standardisation and making it easy for buyers to identify high-integrity carbon credits. This will help mobilise private capital at scale for projects to reduce and remove billions of tonnes of emissions that would not otherwise be viable and will channel investment to the Global South.”

---