The United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has announced that the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program is eligible for the second phase, first compliance period (2027–2029) of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The decision reaffirms the ICAO Council’s endorsement of the VCS Program as one of the most trusted and rigorously governed carbon credit programs globally and significantly increases the number of Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) that may become eligible for CORSIA labels.

ICAO also published an updated CORSIA Eligible Emissions Units (PDF) document with detailed information about all credit categories and vintages that are eligible for the second phase of the first compliance period of CORSIA. With regard to the VCS Program’s eligibility, ICAO also reverted some exclusions included in its eligibility decisions for the first phase (2024–2026) of CORSIA.

What's In and What's Out

Reversal of Exclusions from Eligibility for CORSIA First Phase

Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) from projects using the following methodologies were originally excluded from eligibility for the first phase of CORSIA but are now eligible for the first and second phase of CORSIA:

Details about Eligibility for CORSIA Second Phase

For the second phase, first compliance period of CORSIA, all VCUs are, in principle, covered by the eligibility decision. ICAO has excluded VCUs from the following project types or methodologies:

  • Projects using VM0052 Accelerated Retirement of Coal-Fired Power Plants Using a Just Transition along with VMD0060 Combined Baseline and Additionality Assessment for Accelerated Retirement of Coal-fired Power Plants. ICAO’s Technical Advisory Body (TAB) will further assess this methodology and module at its next meeting in 2026.
  • Projects using clean cooking solutions that calculate the fraction on non-renewable biomass (fNRB) according to CDM TOOL 30.
    • Note: All cookstove projects in the VCS Program must transition to VM0050 for vintages of 2027 or later.
  • CCS projects using VM0049 Carbon Capture and Storage that are not consistent with the Regulatory Scheme CORSIA Eligibility Requirements for Geological CCS Projects
  • Projects that have not quantitatively demonstrated that the baseline(s) are set below the business-as-usual level of emissions or, for non-traditional activities (e.g., jurisdiction-scale programs), that baselines avoid over-estimating mitigation from an activity.

Next Steps

  • Verra will continue to work with ICAO’s Technical Advisory Board to understand and address the existing and new exclusions.
  • Verra will incorporate the details of CORSIA’s latest eligibility decisions into an updated version of the CORSIA Label Guidance document and release it in the coming weeks.
  • Verra recently took the following key steps towards fully operationalizing labels indicating that VCUs from 2021 onward are eligible for use under the Carbon Offsetting Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA):
    • It published the finalized criteria for insurance products intended to cover carbon credits from 2021 onward, where both the host country and the aircraft operator might claim the same emission reductions (double claiming).
    • It also published its CORSIA Accounting Representation Deed that such insurers will sign to indicate their willingness to compensate for any VCUs affected by double claiming.
    • A list of eligible insurance carriers/products will be available in the near future.
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