ICVCM and VCMI Announce Joint Framework for High-Integrity Carbon Market

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) and the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) have announced a joint commitment to operationalising a high-integrity voluntary carbon market that private-sector companies can use confidently as part of their climate strategies. The two organisations plan coordinated standard launches throughout 2023, covering both credit supply quality and corporate use of credits.

The partnership was announced ahead of the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact held in Paris on 22-23 June. ICVCM and VCMI stated that their coordinated work will define best practice for both the sourcing and use of high-integrity carbon credits, reinforcing that voluntary carbon market investments must supplement — not replace — corporate decarbonisation efforts. Forthcoming standards include VCMI's Claims Code of Practice and the ICVCM's Core Carbon Principles Category-level Announcement, both targeted for release in 2023.

The collaboration aims to close a longstanding gap in voluntary carbon market governance: while standards for credit quality and standards for corporate use have developed separately, buyers and companies have lacked an integrated framework that addresses both. The joint effort aligns with established frameworks including the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Science Based Targets initiative, CDP, and the We Mean Business Coalition's climate leadership standards. For Indian companies with Scope 3 commitments, the combined ICVCM-VCMI framework offers clearer guidance on credible credit use within science-based transition plans.

ICVCM and VCMI have committed to ensuring their standards reinforce each other, with VCMI's Claims Code of Practice expected to require companies to purchase credits that meet the ICVCM's CCP quality threshold. The organisations acknowledge that achieving net zero requires companies to prioritise direct decarbonisation of value chains through clean energy, transport, and industrial processes. Science shows that high-integrity credit investments, used alongside internal decarbonisation, can accelerate progress toward the 1.5-degree Paris target.

Key figure — 1.5°C — Paris Agreement temperature goal that both ICVCM and VCMI aim to support through their joint integrity framework