Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM)

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market is an independent body created to define Core Carbon Principles common to all existing registries and to label project methodologies that meet them, in direct response to the confidence crisis the voluntary market went through after the revelation that avoided-deforestation credits had been massively overstated. Unlike a registry such as Verra or Gold Standard, which certifies its own methodologies, the Council positions itself as a third-party assessment body, tasked with auditing existing methodologies against common criteria of additionality, permanence and the measurement of emissions avoided or removed. For insurers and reinsurers beginning to fold carbon credits into their offsetting strategies or to underwrite guarantees tied to their delivery, this label serves as a quality signal meant to separate sound projects from a market that has remained largely unregulated. The creation of this body illustrates an attempt at peer regulation of the sector, rather than regulation by a public authority, at a time when several jurisdictions are still considering introducing direct regulatory oversight of the voluntary market.