Final week, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) launched its full steerage for high-quality carbon crediting packages and classes of methodologies. This announcement comes after the paperwork have been launched in draft type 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 packages (corresponding to Verra, the Gold Commonplace and the American Carbon Registry) can apply for evaluation from the ICVCM through its utility portal. ICVCM expects to start saying these selections later in 2023. If the proof these organizations present meet the requirements of ICVCM, they may be capable of use the IC-VCM label on their credit.
When the general public remark variations of the Evaluation Framework and ideas have 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 executed.
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 strange; nevertheless, the framework has additionally confronted plenty of criticism of providing airways low cost, straightforward to achieve and unhealthy credit to say “local weather impartial.”
“We had additionally raised quite a lot 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.”
In response to McDonnell, the ICVCM eliminated about 75 to 80 p.c of the necessities that overlapped and as a substitute outlined the additional issues a CORSIA-eligible program wanted to display to be eligible for ICVCM’s stamp of approval.
The 4 most important standards of the Evaluation Framework are credit should fund tasks that transition the economic system to internet zero, are everlasting and extra and conservatively quantified to reduce danger of overestimation.
In response to ICVCM’s most up-to-date announcement, the Gold Commonplace stated in an e-mail launch that the ICVCM ought to draw on the data of consultants that already exists because it expands into new classes of credit — echoing an identical sentiment from Verra, albeit with a little bit of a softer tone. The Gold Commonplace additionally made certain to say on the high of its assertion that it helps the framework and hopes it will raise the bar throughout the whole carbon crediting market.
The main necessities in ICVCM’s Evaluation Framework revolve round governance, emissions impacts and sustainable growth, advantages and safeguards. The 4 most important standards of the evaluation Framework stay the identical — credit should fund tasks that transition the economic system to internet zero, are everlasting and extra and conservatively quantified to reduce danger of overestimation. Nevertheless, the suggestions from the general public commentary revealed in November created a couple of notable adjustments within the closing model. McDonnell outlined a couple of 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 available in the market,” McDonnell stated. “So moderately 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 flexibility to use an equivalence take a look at.”
One other instance of the suggestions included by ICVCM was that its framework ought to concentrate on high-level necessities for methodology developments as a substitute of each single methodology for every mission kind. The feedback additionally advised the group ought to concentrate on creating requirements and processes on the program degree for total classes of tasks corresponding to bio-oil or soil sequestration as a substitute of assessing on the particular person mission tier. It additionally famous that requiring all carbon crediting packages to decide to a full compliance instantly could be burdensome and would discourage functions. As an alternative it labored to create a transition pathway for packages. The abstract outlined extra suggestions on all the things from strategic initiatives to sustainable growth.
As for the Core Carbon Rules, most commenters agreed with the ten ideas however noticed that “do no hurt” was conspicuously absent. And whereas it was not added to the first listing of ideas, 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 very best time for submitting itself for ICVCM evaluation, in line with its assertion final week. The Gold Commonplace hasn’t stated when or if it will likely be submitting its tasks to the ICVCM as a result of what was launched was simply this system and methodology standards, however its current assertion does point out that it’ll proceed to align with and go additional than the ICVCM’s standards.