IC-VCM to publish first version of assessment framework in March

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Industry body the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (IC-VCM) is looking to publish the first version of its assessment framework in March 2023, a member of its governing board announced at the Aviation Carbon 2022 conference on Tuesday.

This timeframe is longer than the body would have anticipated, but it is not something that should be rushed, said Jeff Swartz, who leads BP's efforts on low carbon strategy, as well as sitting on the governing board of the IC-VCM.

"By March we'll have finished the process as a board to go through all of the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) and take into account all of the views of the expert panel," explained Swartz as a panellist on the 'Assuring the integrity of the voluntary carbon markets' talk.

The publication of the CCPs has faced delays, with previous expectations being the final quarter of this year.   

The ten CCPs were proposed by the IC-VCM in July with the idea of creating a single, high-quality standard for carbon offset project supply.

These include principles such as additionality, permanence, programme governance and registry, among others.

Criticisms and recommendations

Speaking as a panellist, the director of natural climate solutions and aviation at the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), Ellen Lourie, said that no existing carbon programme can meet all the CCPs of the IC-VCM.

This, Lourie explained, was what IETA found through its own consultation process when trying to get comments from its member companies on the IC-VCM consultation documents.

A recent analysis by Trove Research stated that only 16% of sampled projects passed the financial additionality criteria set out by the CCPs.

Other concerns raised through the IC-VCM process were related to the actual practical application of the CCPs and through the assessment framework, added Lourie.

Another panellist, Oguz Tosun from EKI Energy Services, said that the Integrity Council should have local workshops and presence to address project development issues locally.

"We need to change the behaviours (on) the project owner's side so that we can start discussing the ten (CCPs)," Oguz proposed.

Gilles Dufrasne, the global carbon markets lead at Carbon Market Watch, meanwhile explained that transparency is a key issue of the voluntary carbon market today.

Dufrasne argued that one of the two main dimensions around this issue is the uncertainty of who is buying and using the carbon credits.

"It is just bizarre that we cannot see who is buying the credits," said Dufrasne as a panellist.

There is also uncertainty over what share of the money that is being paid for these credits are ending up with project developers, he said.

Jeff Swartz said that the IC-VCM should not create more confusion in the market, as buyers are already confused.

"(The) IC-VCM should be helping buyers who are new to the market understand: this is the type of high integrity credit that I need."