Verra has published a document that outlines the requirements and procedures for proponents wishing to apply an Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label to the Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) generated by their projects. The release of ICVCM CCP Label Guidance, v1.0 (PDF) follows the ICVCM’s recent approvals of the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program (May 2024), VCS Methodology VM0048 Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (November 2024), and VCS Methodology VM0047 Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation (December 2024).
Once the ICVCM approves a methodology, a project using that methodology will automatically have a CCP label applied to its issued VCUs, provided the project meets any additional required criteria (e.g., for projects using specific methodologies). Projects may need to follow the instructions presented in the ICVCM CCP Label Guidance to request a CCP label from the Verra Registry in the following cases:
- If a CCP label was not automatically applied, but VCUs from a given project could be eligible for CCP labels
- If the project has changed its methodology to an ICVCM-approved methodology for past monitoring periods
A digital form for CCP label requests will be available in 2025. Upon its release, Verra will provide instructions on how to use it.
Changing to an ICVCM-Approved Methodology
Verra recently released two guidance documents for VCS projects wishing to update methodologies or methodology versions for past verification periods or current and future monitoring periods:
- The Methodology Change and Requantification Procedure, v4.0 (PDF) enables projects to update the methodology or methodology version they are using for past verification periods.
- The Procedure to Change Methodology through a Project Description Deviation, v4.0 (PDF) provides guidance for updating projects to a different methodology or methodology version for current and future monitoring periods.
Verra also held a webinar on October 24, 2024, to provide an overview of the above procedures.
For more information about applying ICVCM CCP labels to VCUs, please email registry@verra.org. For more information about the methodology change procedures, please email programupdates@verra.org.