Quality standards to hold carbon offsetting industry to account

theguardian.com:

New quality standards for the $2bn carbon offsetting industry have been published to help guide buyers to high-quality credits following widespread concern that many are just hot air.

On Thursday, new guidelines for a “good” carbon credit programme were announced by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), an initiative that aims to reassure buyers about the quality of offsets they are buying for climate commitments and help them avoid credits that do nothing to mitigate climate change or might be linked to human rights violations.

To get the ICVCM stamp of approval, carbon credit certifiers such as Verra, Gold Standard and the American Carbon Registry will have to demonstrate how their credits were generated, show they are genuine emission reductions or removals with scientific methods, and adhere to rules on respecting the rights of indigenous and local communities.

The new standards have been developed after a consultation involving hundreds of carbon offsetting firms, indigenous representatives, banks, scientists and other experts.

Carbon credits are used by several major companies for their net zero strategy but the market is unregulated and there are concerns about their ability to mitigate climate change, halt biodiversity loss and promote sustainable development.

Economist Nat Keohane, who is president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and a senior adviser for the ICVCM, said the standards should help to improve trust in the market and channel billions of dollars to projects that help mitigate climate change.

“There are credits that are just hot air, and there are really good credits. The fundamental problem that we have right now in the market, which is both preventing it from being