Voluntary Carbon Market Initiative Releases Claims Code to Guide Companies on Integrity and Transparency of Carbon Credit Claims

The Voluntary Carbon Market Initiative (VCMI) today released the Claims Code of Practice, a set of guidelines designed to help companies make credible claims about their voluntary climate actions and ambitions when using carbon credits. 

According to the Code, before using carbon credits and making associated claims, companies must set clear science-aligned near-term targets to reduce emissions in the near-term as they progress toward long-term net zero commitments consistent with limiting global temperature increases to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The Code also requires all carbon credits to be high quality, referencing the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s (IC-VCM) Core Carbon Principles, which provide a global threshold definition of high-quality carbon credits to guide buyers and program developers.  

The VCMI Claims Code is still under development. The VCMI has yet to name the claims companies can make, establish the measurement, reporting and verification process for greenhouse gas emissions, and establish product, service, and brand-level claims. VCMI plans to publish these details in November 2023.  

In response to the release of the Claims Code, Mandy Rambharos, Vice President of Global Climate Cooperation at Environmental Defense Fund, released the following statement:  

“The Claims Code is a critical step forward for the voluntary carbon market, although there is still significant work to be done. When it is complete, the Code promises much-needed clarity and transparency around carbon credit claims. This tool could build trust and confidence in the market's ability to help companies meet their net-zero commitments with high integrity.  

The key will be holding companies, program developers, and other stakeholders accountable to striving for high quality and integrity, while balancing the flexibility to welcome smaller companies, particularly from emerging economies, into the market’s journey. We need a broad-scale, market-wide movement toward high-integrity to achieve meaningful climate benefits at the time and pace the science demands.”