ICVCM Releases Full Global Benchmark for High-Integrity Carbon Credits

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market has published its complete Assessment Framework for carbon credits, setting criteria for evaluating credit categories and crediting methodologies alongside existing program-level standards. Carbon-crediting programs can now apply through the ICVCM's portal for assessment against the Core Carbon Principles.

The framework requires carbon credits to fund emissions reductions or removals that are additional, permanent, robustly quantified, and consistent with a transition to net zero. It explicitly prohibits projects that lock in fossil fuel emissions, including enhanced oil recovery and unabated coal-fired electricity generation. Nature-based projects such as forests, wetlands, and blue carbon ecosystems must monitor and report on emissions reductions for at least 40 years where reversal risk exists, and maintain a buffer pool to compensate for any reversals. All new projects must also secure free, prior, and informed consent from Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

The release marks the completion of the ICVCM's CCP rule book following consultations with hundreds of organisations across the voluntary carbon market. The document replaces earlier documents published in March 2023 and adds category-level assessment criteria to the program-level framework already in place. The ICVCM expects high-integrity CCP-labelled credits to trade at a premium over unlabelled credits, creating an economic incentive for programs and project developers to meet the rigorous standards — a dynamic of particular relevance for Indian companies seeking credible offsets.

The ICVCM is establishing expert Multi-Stakeholder Working Groups to assess credit categories, prioritising those with the largest market share. It has also announced ten Continuous Improvement Work Programs covering topics such as satellite monitoring, price transparency, jurisdictional REDD+, and Paris alignment. These workstreams will inform the next version of the Assessment Framework, due for implementation in 2026. Carbon-crediting programs can apply for assessment on a rolling basis through the ICVCM's online portal.

Key figure — 40 years — minimum monitoring and reporting period required for nature-based projects with reversal risk under the CCP framework