Rio de Janeiro and Washington, DC – 2 June 2023 | Verra and McKinsey Brazil announced today an agreement that the standards-setting nonprofit will join the Advisory Council for the Brazilian Initiative for the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). Verra operates the world’s leading carbon crediting program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), and McKinsey Brazil is the Initiative’s knowledge partner. The two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this month.
As a member of this group, Verra will contribute to the development of the Initiative by providing information about the VCM, technical inputs, and perspectives on the evolution of the VCM globally. Within the framework of this initiative, multi-stakeholder meetings will be held to define the primary needs of the VCM in the country and opportunities for its improvement, to scale up the credibility and transparency of the VCM in Brazil.
“The direct involvement of Verra with the Brazilian Initiative for the Voluntary Carbon Market is fundamental to the process of scaling the nature-based offset market while continuing to strengthen integrity,” said Henrique Ceotto, Partner at McKinsey and leader of the Sustainability Practice in Brazil. “Brazil is uniquely positioned to contribute to the world’s path to net zero through both carbon sequestration (via restoration) and conservation, while increasing water security, promoting biodiversity conservation and creating social economic development.”
The signing of this agreement is part of Verra’s broader effort to support key stakeholders in Brazil, securing the positive impacts generated by the voluntary carbon markets and accelerating the transition to a sustainable future.
“The Brazilian Initiative for the Voluntary Market is fundamental to ensuring the integrity and safe growth of the market. A strong market in countries such as Brazil will not only increase the transparency of the market, but also increase the flow of financing for forest and biodiversity conservation actions.
“Verra welcomes external initiatives that seek to engage our work as a standards-setting organization, which will strengthen our efforts to advance climate mitigation and sustainable development.”
Verra is a nonprofit organization that operates the world’s leading carbon crediting program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, as well as other standards in environmental and social markets. 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, tools and programs that credibly, transparently and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.
###
For questions and inquiries, please contact:
Joel Finkelstein, Senior Director, Media and Advocacy
jfinkelstein@verra.org | 202-285-0113