Here's what's happening: The Voluntary Carbon Market is undergoing a quality revolution with the Integrity Council's Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) emerging as the global benchmark for high-integrity carbon credits.
Why it matters for companies: This matters because regulators and investors are converging on these standards - CFOs and CSOs should act now to align their carbon offset strategies with the CCP framework, or risk compliance gaps and reputational fallout.
Concept & Purpose: The 10 Core Carbon Principles cover governance, emissions impact, and sustainable development aspects of a carbon credit. The CCPs are ten science-based criteria defining what a "high-quality" carbon credit looks like - from additionality (credits fund emission cuts that wouldn't happen otherwise) to no double-counting and community safeguards. Launched by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) after extensive consultation, they set a global benchmark to increase the likelihood that voluntary offset projects deliver real, verifiable climate impact and support the 1.5°C goal.
Impact & Status: The CCP framework took effect in mid-2023, and implementation is well underway. The ICVCM applies a double tick process, approving carbon-crediting programs (registries) independently of categories of carbon credits (methodologies). Today, all the big registries - including Verra's Verified Carbon Standard and Isometric - have met the rigorous CCP program criteria, collectively representing over 95% of the voluntary market. However, approval of carbon crediting categories lacks behind with limited supply of CCP-approved carbon credits.
Upcoming Deadline: Currently, seven carbon-crediting programs and >30 categories of carbon credits are in the process of evaluation respectively. The CCPs are expected to form the basis for defining accepted methodologies and quality standards in various frameworks such as Article 6 and CRCF. Also, Corporates might refer to the CCP for any regulatory imposed reporting requirements on the quality of used carbon credits e.g. under SEC’s climate disclosure rules, the Voluntary Carbon market Disclosure Act (AB 1305) in California or the CSRD in Europe.
Regulatory Adoption: As of today, the CCP label is voluntary but sees adoption by companies. And, as laid out above, policymakers are increasingly endorsing the CCPs as the template for regulation, but full adoption will take time. The U.S. government's 2024 Joint Policy Statement on voluntary markets mirrors ICVCM's criteria and affirms that only high-integrity credits should count toward climate goals.
Risks of Inaction: For finance and sustainability leads, ignoring the Core Carbon Principles now could carry steep consequences. Reputational risk: With disclosure laws like California's AB 1305 and the CSRD in force, companies that rely on low-quality or opaque offsets will be exposed to regulators and the public. Financial risk: credits that fail to meet the CCP benchmark may lose market value or become unusable toward climate targets.
Benefits of Proactive Engagement: CFOs and CSOs who move decisively on CCPs can create strategic advantage. First, early compliance is easier and cheaper -- by auditing and upgrading offset portfolios now, companies can spread out the costs and can potentially resell or swap out non-qualifying credits before everyone else rushes to do so. Second, aligning with CCPs enhances a company's ESG credibility -- using only CCP-approved credits signals to investors, customers, and ratings agencies that net-zero claims are backed by substance, not shell games.
The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) has long struggled with quality concerns - both on the supply side, in terms of project integrity, and on the demand side, in how companies have used offsets. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has now established a broadly accepted baseline definition of “good enough” quality for projects. This benchmark is increasingly being adopted by other frameworks, including Article 6 and the Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF). As a result, it is set to shape - indirectly but decisively - the global carbon market of the future, where today’s voluntary and compliance systems will converge.
CFOs/CSOs should hence:
Align climate strategy with high-integrity credits. Update procurement policies to phase out non-CCP-compliant offsets by 2027/2028, and budget for investment in CCP-labelled projects (expect a premium for quality).
Advocate & Prepare for forthcoming regulation. Engage with industry groups and regulators to support consistent adoption of CCPs in reporting standards. Internally, build the systems to track and report offset usage transparently -- by the next reporting cycle, you should be ready to disclose your offset details (as the SEC and others will likely require).
Appendix – Sources and Further Reading: