The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is seeking views on the implementation of the Government’s principles for voluntary carbon and nature market (VCNM) integrity in an open consultation.

The consultation hopes to provide a response to calls from business, finance, farming, and environmental stakeholders for clarity on the Government’s approach. It also responds to recommendations from the Climate Change Committee and others for a new regulatory approach for these markets.

The consultation invites views on the implementation of the six principles outlined by Kerry McCarthy, Minister for Climate Change, at COP29 in November 2024, taking account of their applicability in the context of varying maturity of markets.

It will also aim to clarify expected standards for guiding supplier and buyer engagement in VCNMs and invites responses on how these approaches could be reflected in guidance, policy and potentially regulation, supported by market architecture that could embed and scale high-integrity practice.

The use of markets can raise additional finance, with estimates that VCMs, for example, could be worth between $7-35bn by 2030 and $45-250bn by 2050, under the right conditions, but for VCNMs to enable this, they will need to be operated and used with integrity and in ways that support a 1.5C-aligned and nature positive transition. This means, at a minimum, better ensuring that credits deliver their intended environmental outcomes and that buyers do not purchase and retire (‘use’) credits instead of undertaking feasible internal action needed to align with climate and environmental goals, and that any public environmental claims (‘claims’) made in relation to the use of credits are accurate, avoid misleading stakeholders and are aligned with relevant information in sustainability reporting.

The consultation closes on 10 July 2025.

---