Non-profit status

The Integrity Council is an independent, stakeholder-led non-profit organisation. We direct our funds towards the advancement of our mission – ensuring the voluntary carbon market (VCM) accelerates a just transition to Net Zero. We ‌do so by setting and maintaining a global threshold for high integrity in the VCM, ‌driving climate finance towards impactful climate solutions.

Our governance

Governing Board

The Governing Board, under the guidance of the Chair, is crucial in defining the Integrity Council’s mission, shaping the strategic roadmap, and approving and delivering the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs). Through engagement with VCM stakeholders and the CCP assessment framework, the Governing Board helps to build a high-integrity carbon market.

The Governing board comprises 22 members, including independent members who are acting in the global interest and have expertise, and representatives from Indigenous Peoples and local communities, members representing market participants (who do not vote), and founding organisation¹ representatives.

We have detailed rules that ensure we manage and avoid conflicts of interest, For example, independent members of our Governing Board who work for entities involved in carbon markets would not be able to engage in discussions or vote in matters related to the interests of such entities.

Independent members with connections to carbon crediting programs would not be able to engage in discussion or vote in relation to matters relating to those programs. In relation to decisions under our Assessment Framework, conflicts of interest are managed specifically for every single assessment decision, and in accordance with the conflicts of interest policy adopted by the Governing Board.

Committees

To ensure our work is grounded in expertise and best practice, we have several committees made up of Governing Board members:

• Standards Oversights Committee: Comprised only of members who are not market representatives, this provides scrutiny and recommendations to the Governing Board, in relation to outputs of the work of the Expert Panel. The Governing Board also has the right to delegate some matters to the SOC.

• Governance Committee: Comprised only of members who are not market representatives, this committee works to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of the Integrity Council’s operations by overseeing governance, finance, and risk processes on behalf of the Governing Board.

• Market and Communications Committee: This committee oversees ICVCM work on market development, engaging with stakeholders to develop understanding of the ICVCM CCPs, and to support the development of robust, transparent market infrastructure.

• Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IP & LC) Committee: This committee comprises IPs and LCs Board members and other members and ensures that the Governing Board is supporting the development of the IPs and LCs Engagement Forum and enabling a direct route of communication to the Governing Board from the Forum. The committee also ensures the IPs and LCs perspective is central to the work of the Governing Board.

Expert Panel and the Subject Matter Experts

The Expert Panel comprises of a multidisciplinary group of experts, including researchers, representatives from international organisations, and market participants. The Expert Panel provides recommendations on the Assessment Framework rule development and its members support the assessment process through participation in the assessment working groups and providing input to the Standards Oversight Committee and Governing Board.

Subject matter experts work alongside and with the Expert Panel in matters relating to their specific expertise.

Appointment to these roles is based on ensuring expertise, diversity, and independence.

Executive Secretariat

Supporting the Governing Board, its committees and the Expert Panel, the Executive Secretariat oversees implementation of the mission of the Integrity Council and the delivery of the operational tasks of the Integrity Council. The professional team of staff working for ICVCM comprises dedicated in-house staff and staff from partners from prominent climate, finance, and standards organisations: the British Standards Institution (BSI), the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES).

In its initial stages, the Green Finance Institute (GFI) served as the launch host and operational delivery lead and GFI continues to provide operational advice and support.

Distinguished Advisory Group

The members of the Advisory Group comprises of esteemed figures recognised for their commitment to purpose-driven carbon markets, unlocking climate finance at scale, climate mitigation, and sustainable development. The members operate as independent advisors providing insights to the Governing Board.

¹Seven Founding Sponsor representatives, of which two must be Independent. Each Founding Sponsor may appoint one representative from their organisation, serving only during the initial three-year phase of the Integrity Council unless otherwise determined by the Governing Board. And nine Independent members: acting in the global interest (e.g. experts, researchers or former market participants), including representatives from multilateral and international organisations.

Further information

For details of our organisational structure and to find out more about the dedicated individuals who make up the Integrity Council:

Meet the team

For full details on our Charter, policies, code of conduct and annual reports:

Key governance materials