Published:

August 23, 2024

Last updated:

September 3, 2024

ICVCM: A Deep Dive into the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market

What is the ICVCM (Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market)?

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) is an independent governance body dedicated to upholding the credibility, transparency, and quality of carbon credits within the voluntary carbon market (VCM). The ICVCM sets rigorous standards and guidelines that ensure carbon credits can reliably contribute to global climate goals. By focusing on high standards and integrity, the ICVCM plays a key role in building trust among companies, investors, and governments within the VCM.

Who Funds the ICVCM?

The ICVCM is a non-profit, independent governance body funded by philanthropic institutions, as well as the UK Government.

Some of its current funders include:

The full list can be found here.

Why is the ICVCM Important?

As the voluntary carbon market expands, the need for consistent and transparent standards is becoming increasingly critical. The ICVCM addresses this by:

Setting rigorous standards through the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs). This ensures that carbon credits meet stringent criteria for delivering measurable and lasting climate benefits, thereby maximising their impact.
Ensuring carbon credits are sourced, traded, and retired in a transparent manner. This enhances trust and promotes credibility within carbon markets.
The ICVCM’s guidelines support global climate goals by aligning with international agreements like the Paris Agreement. This ensures that carbon credits are able to contribute towards global climate targets effectively.

How Does the ICVCM Help Companies?

The ICVCM provides companies with a framework to navigate the voluntary carbon market confidently. Companies can leverage the ICVCM framework by:

Aligning their carbon credit purchases with the Core Carbon Principles to ensure climate claims are credible, transparent, and trusted by stakeholders.
Following ICVCM guidelines for due-diligence to select high-quality, ICVCM-approved credits, minimising investment risks and maximising climate impact.
Report carbon credit transactions clearly and consistently, reinforcing trust and accountability in the voluntary carbon market.

Senken has implemented a robust due-diligence process in line with the guidelines laid out by the Core Carbon Principles, as well as additional frameworks and climate science. If you want to find out more about our selection of high quality carbon credits, contact us today.

Key Components of the ICVCM Framework

The ICVCM framework is built around several key components designed to uphold the integrity and effectiveness of the voluntary carbon market:

ICVCM Core Carbon Principles (CCPs)

The Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) form the foundation of the ICVCM’s framework. These principles consist of 10 specific requirements based on the latest scientific knowledge and best practices. They serve as a checklist to define what constitutes a high-quality carbon credit, aiming to help companies and project developers achieve verifiable climate impacts.

The 10 steps of the Core carbon Principles

These principles help companies purchase high-quality carbon credits aligned with their net zero strategies and reporting requirements.

ICVCM Assessment Framework

The Assessment Framework provides detailed guidance for evaluating carbon credits against the CCPs. It helps carbon-crediting programs ensure that their credits meet the necessary standards and contribute effectively to environmental goals.

How to assess carbon credits using the ICVCM

This comprehensive assessment framework helps to quickly assess whether carbon credit programs and categories can effectively achieve the desired environmental impact by complying with the CCPs.

ICVCM Approved Methodologies

Carbon Credit Methodologies approved by the ICVCM

The ICVCM approves specific methodologies for carbon credit projects, ensuring they align with the Core Carbon Principles. Approved methodologies cover a wide range of project types, including renewable energy, reforestation, and carbon capture and storage. By adhering to these methodologies, carbon credit projects can demonstrate their credibility and effectiveness in contributing to global climate goals, ensuring that the carbon credits they generate are of the highest quality.

Carbon credit programs eligible for the ICVCM core carbon principles

How Does the ICVCM Compare to Other Frameworks?

The ICVCM plays an important role in the voluntary carbon markets and corporate sustainability landscapes. Understanding how it works alongside other key frameworks and guidelines is critical when working on a company’s sustainability strategy.

ICVCM and VCMI

The VCMI and the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) work hand in hand to ensure the credibility and impact of voluntary carbon markets.

The ICVCM focuses on setting the standards for carbon credit quality through its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs).
The VCMI provides a framework for companies to make credible claims about their use of these carbon credits. The quality standards in their framework are aligned with the Core Carbon Principles.

Essentially, the ICVCM ensures that carbon credits are of high quality, and the VCMI ensures that companies use these credits in a way that is transparent, verifiable, and aligned with global climate goals. Together, they cover both the integrity of the credits themselves and the integrity of corporate claims related to those credits.

ICVCM and SBTi

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the ICVCM both guide companies in their climate strategies, focusing on different aspects of corporate climate action:

The SBTi provides companies with a framework to set and achieve science-based emissions reduction targets, ensuring that their pathways to net-zero are aligned with the latest climate science.
The ICVCM ensures that the carbon credits these companies might use as part of their broader climate strategy meet high standards of integrity and effectiveness.

Essentially, the SBTi sets the path for emissions reductions, and the ICVCM ensures that any use of carbon credits along this path is transparent and credible.

ICVCM vs ICROA

The International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) provides a code of best practices for carbon management services, including carbon offsetting. ICROA focuses on best practices for companies offering carbon offset services, while the ICVCM sets the standards for the carbon credits themselves.

ICROA guides service providers on how to effectively manage carbon offsets and reduce emissions.
The ICVCM ensures that the carbon credits used by these providers meet the highest standards of integrity and effectiveness.

These two frameworks are complementary: ICROA provides guidance on the best practices for carbon management, while the ICVCM ensures that the credits involved in these practices are of the highest quality.

ICVCM vs Rating Agencies

The ICVCM and Rating Agencies like BeZero and Sylvera both play crucial roles in the voluntary carbon market, though they focus on different aspects of carbon credit integrity.

The ICVCM establishes the global standards for carbon credit quality through its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs). These principles ensure that carbon credits meet high-level criteria for environmental integrity, transparency, and social safeguards.
Rating Agencies provide detailed, independent assessments of individual carbon credit projects, focusing on specific factors such as additionality, permanence, and social co-benefits. Their evaluations help stakeholders understand the quality and risks associated with particular credits.

While the ICVCM sets the overarching rules and standards for the entire market, Rating Agencies offer granular, project-specific insights that complement these standards. They work alongside each other to provide a comprehensive approach to maintaining the credibility and effectiveness of the voluntary carbon market by ensuring that carbon credits assessed accurately and are of high quality.

Key Takeaways

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market is a crucial independent governance body that ensures the credibility and effectiveness of carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market.
It is funded by a diverse range of stakeholders committed to enhancing the VCM, ensuring its independence and focus on setting high standards.
The framework includes the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), an Assessment Framework, and Approved Methodologies to uphold the highest standards for environmental integrity, transparency, and social safeguards.
The ICVCM complements other frameworks like the VCMI, Gold Standard, SBTi, and ICROA, ensuring that carbon credits and the claims made about them are credible and aligned with global climate goals.
Companies can use the framework to enhance the credibility of their climate claims, reduce the risk of investing in low-quality carbon credits, and build trust with stakeholders.