S&P Global Commodity Insights covered Verra’s new carbon credit market label. Verra recently announced the launch of a process to develop a label that can be attached to carbon credits to indicate their higher standards. As envisioned, the label – called the ABACUS Verified Carbon Unit – would be generated by projects that satisfy additional standards on top of those already required by Verra’s traditional VCUs.

“What we see today is a dynamic where companies purchase carbon credits believing that they’re having the [climate] impact that the credits represent, only to have the value of that contribution challenged and questioned in the public square,” said Jamey Mulligan, a senior scientist with Amazon’s Sustainability Science and Innovation division. “We don’t believe that that dynamic is conducive to success. Carbon markets need to be a mechanism that buyers can trust and that their customers and stakeholders can trust.”