On Today’s ICVCM Approval of Verra’s Landmark Verified Carbon Standard Program

From its inception almost 20 years ago, Verra has pioneered market solutions to drive finance into climate action. We have been honored with the confidence of project stakeholders and market investors. Today, we celebrate the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s (ICVCM) recognition that our landmark Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program is fully aligned with the detailed criteria of the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) for high-quality carbon credits.

Verra is proud to be part of this collective journey to raise the quality bar across carbon markets. The ICVCM’s work to establish a common understanding of credit integrity is crucial to realizing it on the ground – both in established crediting programs like ours and in those of newer market entrants. We must all stand for rigor, transparency, and vigilance for science-backed and consensus-driven standards. Verra will continue to work with the ICVCM as we all strive to innovate and evolve market standards to maximize climate impact and advance sustainable development.

Verra’s core mission is to enable investment to flow into tangible and effective climate action. This is especially so in developing countries where the presence of reliable finance can help facilitate a transition to low-emissions economic growth and unlock opportunities for sustainable development. We believe ICVCM’s important work will further support the delivery of quality credits across the voluntary carbon market.

• Today’s approval by ICVCM covers the VCS Program. The ICVCM’s consideration of specific methodologies under the VCS Program is expected in the coming months.
• Verra’s ICVCM application reinforced key methodological developments. For this reason, for some project types Verra put forward only the latest methodology versions for ICVCM assessment. We are also creating an optional pathway that enables proponents to transition their projects to these latest versions, letting proponents select an ICVCM-approved Verra methodology and apply it retroactively to past monitoring periods to receive CCP labels.
• Verra’s engagement with ICVCM over the past year has included the following:
  • In August 2023, Verra released v4.5 of the VCS Standard. This version included updates to strengthen the program’s usability, transparency, and integrity.
  • In November 2023, Verra submitted its application to have the VCS Program assessed against the CCPs developed by ICVCM.
  • In April 2024, in part responding to requests for additional information and as part of our ongoing commitment to continual improvement, Verra published updates to the VCS Program, including a new version (v4.7) of the VCS Standard. This update included several rule amendments to further clarify how the VCS Program aligns with the CCPs.

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Verra is a global leader helping to tackle the world’s most intractable environmental and social challenges. As a mission-driven nonprofit organization, Verra is committed to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect natural resources by working with the private and public sectors. We support climate action and sustainable development with standards programs and tools that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.