Final week, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) launched its full steerage for high-quality carbon crediting applications and classes of methodologies. This announcement comes after the paperwork had been launched in draft kind for public remark in 2022 and the discharge of the finalized Evaluation Framework and the listing of Core Carbon Rules in March. This most up-to-date launch is the whole bundle together with a category-specific evaluation process. 

Carbon crediting applications (corresponding to Verra, the Gold Normal and the American Carbon Registry) can apply for evaluation from the ICVCM by way of its software portal. ICVCM expects to start asserting these selections later in 2023. If the proof these organizations present meet the requirements of ICVCM, they’ll be capable of use the IC-VCM label on their credit. 

When the general public remark variations of the Evaluation Framework and rules had been  launched in 2022, there was fairly a little bit of pushback from the opposite carbon verification our bodies, most importantly from Verra. In a September put up, Verra argued that the IC-VCM was merely duplicating the work that different verification our bodies had already completed. 

The Evaluation Framework depends closely on the Carbon Offsetting and Discount Scheme for Worldwide Aviation (CORSIA) — many of the framework sections that define what tasks might want to do to get approval begin with the phrase “along with CORSIA necessities.” CORSIA was one of many first and most generally used offsetting schemes, so utilizing it as a jumping-off level isn’t out of the unusual; nonetheless, the framework has additionally confronted a lot of criticism of providing airways low-cost, simple to achieve and unhealthy credit to assert “local weather impartial.” 

“We had additionally raised plenty of factors raised in regards to the duplicating and it is overlapping with CORSIA,” stated William McDonnell, chief working officer of the ICVCM. “So we fastidiously take a look at the CORSIA necessities and the place they overlap with us to streamline the necessities.”

Based on McDonnell, the ICVCM eliminated about 75 to 80 % of the necessities that overlapped and as a substitute outlined the additional issues a CORSIA-eligible program wanted to exhibit to be eligible for ICVCM’s stamp of approval. 

The 4 predominant standards of the Evaluation Framework are credit should fund tasks that transition the financial system to web zero, are everlasting and extra and conservatively quantified to attenuate threat of overestimation.

In response to ICVCM’s most up-to-date announcement, the Gold Normal stated in an e mail launch that the ICVCM ought to draw on the information of consultants that already exists because it expands into new classes of credit — echoing an analogous sentiment from Verra, albeit with a little bit of a softer tone. The Gold Normal additionally made positive to say on the high of its assertion that it helps the framework and hopes this can elevate the bar throughout the whole carbon crediting market.

The key necessities in ICVCM’s Evaluation Framework revolve round governance, emissions impacts and sustainable improvement, advantages and safeguards. The 4 predominant standards of the evaluation Framework stay the identical — credit should fund tasks that transition the financial system to web zero, are everlasting and extra and conservatively quantified to attenuate threat of overestimation. Nevertheless, the suggestions from the general public commentary printed in November created just a few notable adjustments within the remaining model. McDonnell outlined just a few examples. 

“One thing like additionality, that was an space the place we had suggestions telling us that there was a broader vary of approaches and instruments getting used out there,” McDonnell stated. “So slightly than be locked in to a exact and inflexible set of additionality guidelines, we have listened to that and expanded into a number of pathways for our additionality necessities and the power to use an equivalence take a look at.”

One other instance of the suggestions included by ICVCM was that its framework ought to deal with high-level necessities for methodology developments as a substitute of each single methodology for every challenge sort. The feedback additionally urged the group ought to deal with creating requirements and processes on the program degree for whole classes of tasks corresponding to bio-oil or soil sequestration as a substitute of assessing on the particular person challenge tier. It additionally famous that requiring all carbon crediting applications to decide to a full compliance instantly could be burdensome and would discourage purposes. As an alternative it labored to create a transition pathway for applications. The abstract outlined further suggestions on all the pieces from strategic initiatives to sustainable improvement.  

As for the Core Carbon Rules, most commenters agreed with the 10 rules however noticed that “do no hurt” was conspicuously absent. And whereas it was not added to the first listing of rules, McDonnell defined that it’s included into the evaluation framework for methodology classes. 

After the brand new steerage was introduced, Verra said that it’s reviewing ICVCM’s evaluation framework and “stays supportive.” Verra is contemplating the perfect time for submitting itself for ICVCM evaluation, in line with its assertion final week. The Gold Normal hasn’t stated when or if will probably be submitting its tasks to the ICVCM as a result of what was launched was simply this system and methodology standards, however its latest assertion does point out that it’s going to proceed to align with and go additional than the ICVCM’s standards.