The Reserve welcomes and supports critical work of the ICVCM

LOS ANGELES, CA – Continuing its strong support for a high-integrity, robust and scalable global voluntary carbon market (VCM), the Climate Action Reserve submitted its program for assessment against the criteria laid out in the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) from the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM).

“As evidenced by its own high standards for rigor, transparency, additionality and permanence in its program, the Reserve always has supported and fought for integrity in carbon credits. Presenting the Reserve program for evaluation against the CCPs can only help make the market stronger and establish more trust and confidence,” said Linda Adams, Chair of the Climate Action Reserve Board of Directors.

Recognizing that a strong VCM is critical for achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and contributing to net zero development, the ICVCM is setting and enforcing global market standards, which will further strengthen integrity in the VCM and allow the market to scale to the level that is needed.

The CCPs provide thresholds for basic principles, disclosure and sustainable development that high-integrity carbon credits should meet. There are 10 CCPs covering the areas of governance (effective governance, tracking, transparency and independent third-party validation and verification), emissions impact (additionality, permanence, quantification and no double counting) and sustainable development (benefits and safeguards and contribution toward net zero transition). The thresholds were developed in collaboration with scientific, local community, policy and private sector input.

Programs that are approved as meeting the CCP thresholds will be able to tag credits that come from categories of carbon credits that have also been given the CCP label. Doing this will strengthen trust and confidence in the VCM, which will encourage more financial investment towards the most cost-effective, impactful climate mitigation projects globally, including in the global south.

“We fully support the critical work of the ICVCM and the ongoing advancement of the VCM. Failing at this work is not an option if we want a livable environment in the future,” said Craig Ebert, President of the Climate Action Reserve. “We look forward to continuing to collaborate with and support the ICVCM.”

If the Reserve is approved as meeting the criteria established in the CCPs, it will be able to tag its credits, Climate Reserve Tonnes (CRTs), from categories of credits that have been CCP approved. The approval of project types – or categories – is a separate ICVCM evaluation running in parallel to CCP program assessments. For more information on the ICVCM and the CCPs, please visit www.icvcm.org.

The Climate Action Reserve is the most trusted, efficient, and experienced offset registry for global carbon markets. A pioneer in carbon accounting, the Reserve promotes and fosters the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through credible market-based policies and solutions. As a high-quality offset registry for voluntary carbon markets, it establishes rigorous standards involving multi-sector stakeholder workgroup development and local engagement and issues carbon credits in a transparent and publicly available system. The organization also supports compliance carbon markets in California, Washington and internationally. The Reserve is an environmental nonprofit organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California with staff members located around the world. For more information, please visit www.climateactionreserve.org.