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Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative

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The Biden-Harris Administration (the Administration) today released the Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM) Joint Policy Statement and Principles (the Principles), along with an accompanying fact sheet (the Fact Sheet). The Principles represent the U.S. government’s affirmation that high-integrity VCMs can and should play a meaningful role in reducing and removing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and support the objective of global net-zero emissions by 2050. The Principles support the Administration’s commitment to ensuring VCMs effectively channel private capital into innovative technological and nature-based solutions, while also protecting natural ecosystems and supporting the U.S. and international partners in achieving their climate objectives.   The Principles follow other key U.S. climate-related legislation and policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act (see our earlier bulletin here), climate adaptation and resilience plans for federal agencies (see our earlier bulletin here), and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Principles for Net-Zero Financing and Investment, released last year, supporting the development and execution of strong net-zero commitments and transition plans by financial institutions, with a focus on Scope 3 financed and facilitated GHG emissions.   This bulletin briefly summarizes the Principles, their anticipated role in addressing climate change, and other ongoing U.S. government actions to support VCMs.    Principles for high-integrity VCMs. The Principles provide seven principles for high-integrity VCMs, drawing from existing best practices for credit certification standards, including the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), the G7’s Principles for High-Integrity Carbon Markets, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s proposed guidance regarding the listing of voluntary carbon credit derivative contracts (December 2023), the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles (see our earlier bulletin here), and relevant decisions under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The Principles are as follows: Carbon credits and the activities that generate them should meet credible atmospheric integrity standards and represent real decarbonization. Credit-generating activities should avoid environmental and social harm and should, where applicable, support…

The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) yesterday announced that it is has appointed an Expert Advisory Group (EAG), which will provide advice to the VCMI Secretariat and Steering Committee ahead of the launch of its Claims Code of Practice later this year. VCMI launched its Provisional Claims Code of Practice in the middle of last year. Earlier this week, VCMI announced a partnership with Winrock International to produce an operable VCMI Claims Code of Practice for voluntary use of carbon credits. The purpose of the Claims Code of Practice is to provide clear guidance to companies and other non-state actors on when and how they can credibly make voluntary use of carbon credits as part of their net-zero commitments and climate mitigation strategies, and the claims they can make about that use.  VCMI said that EAG participants were invited to join the group due to the range of expertise they bring from across key sectors and geographies. Members include carbon market experts, environmental and sustainability professionals, Indigenous community leaders, and legal and accounting practitioners. Resilient LLP Senior Partner and CEO Lisa DeMarco is among those appointed to the EAG. The full list of EAG members is available on the VCMI website.   For further information or to discuss the contents of this bulletin, please contact Lisa DeMarco at lisa@resilientllp.com.