Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program has been recognized in Zambia as implementing best practices in the voluntary carbon market. The country’s Ministry of Green Economy and Environment (MGEE) recently published the Zambian Carbon Market Framework, which specifically highlights VCS carbon accounting methodologies and the non-permanence risk tool for projects in the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector.
The MGEE created the framework to help reduce and remove the country’s carbon emissions and meet its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. The framework includes guidelines for the development of carbon projects as well as rules for the trading of carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market and under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. It also stipulates that participating projects must use carbon accounting methodologies from specific greenhouse gas crediting programs, including the VCS Program.
Currently, the Verra Registry lists 28 active VCS projects that are located in Zambia. About half of them implement natural climate solutions, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), Improved Agricultural Land Management (IALM), and Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation (ARR) activities.
The publication of the Zambian Carbon Market Framework, along with similar initiatives in Peru, Querétaro (Mexico), Chile, and other jurisdictions, demonstrates that international greenhouse gas crediting programs like Verra’s VCS Program can support countries in using carbon markets to achieve their climate goals.
These programs drive finance to a broad range of local projects, particularly those implementing nature-based solutions, enabling them to sustain and scale up their operations. These projects implement important climate mitigation activities, conserve biodiversity, and provide additional benefits to local and Indigenous communities.