Integrity Council confirms carbon crediting program Rainbow as CCP-Eligible

Approval applies to Standard Rules v7 or later only.

Rainbow (formerly Riverse) has become the ninth program to be approved as CCP-Eligible, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) announced today. The approval applies to Rainbow Standard Rules v7 or later. This version incorporates strengthened provisions that were introduced in order to meet the CCP requirements. For example:

• Enhanced governance and independence: Clearer roles for governing bodies and advisory committees. Reinforced conflict-of-interest and oversight provisions, including for Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs).
• More robust validation and verification: Tighter VVB accreditation, rotation, performance review, and sanctioning rules. Clearer audit and documentation requirements.
• Improved methodology and crediting integrity: Stronger rules on additionality, baselines, uncertainty, crediting periods, and renewals. Clear processes for methodology creation, revision, and discontinuation.
• Reinforced durability and safeguards: Enhanced reversal risk assessment, buffer pool rules, and cancellation procedures. Clearer environmental and social safeguard, stakeholder engagement, and Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) requirements.
• Greater registry transparency: Expanded public disclosure of project documentation, credit status, and labels. Improved registry controls, traceability, and IT security.
• Stronger double counting controls: Clarified prohibitions on double issuance, double use, and double claiming.

CCP-Eligible status means that programs have demonstrated that they meet the rigorous criteria of the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) Assessment Framework for effective governance, tracking, transparency and robust independent third-party validation and verification. They have also met the program-related rules in the CCP Assessment Framework on robust quantification of emission reductions and removals, no double counting and sustainable development benefits and safeguards.

Headquartered in France, Rainbow has over 80 registered projects, with a portfolio that includes:

• Biochar
• Mineralization of alkaline materials
• Enhanced rock weathering
• Biomass carbon removal and storage
• Bio-based construction materials
• Biogas from anaerobic digestion
• Electronic devices refurbishment

Now that Rainbow is CCP-Eligible, its methodologies can be assessed, in line with the ICVCM’s two-tick assessment process. Only credits issued using CCP-Approved methodologies and version v7 or later of Rainbow’s Standard will be able to receive the CCP-label.

Ludovic Chatoux, Co-founder & CEO, Rainbow said: “We’re proud to receive ICVCM approval. The recognition validates our vision: that high-integrity carbon markets require scientific rigour, field engineering expertise, and operational excellence. For the partners who work with Rainbow, this approval confirms what we’ve built together: a standard that meets the market’s highest integrity thresholdbenchmarks. Frameworks like ICVCM are essential for building market credibility at scale. This recognition strengthens our position while keeping us focused on what matters: delivering efficient, high-quality certification for the technologies driving real carbon removal.”

Annette Nazareth, Chair of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, said: “Rainbow joins the growing list of carbon crediting programs that have embraced the Core Carbon Principles as the global reference point for quality by strengthening their governance and program standards to meet the CCP threshold. We applaud their commitment and warmly welcome them as a CCP-Eligible program.”

Rainbow applied to CORSIA (under its former company name, Riverse) using version 5 of their standard and were considered partially consistent by CORSIA at that time and invited to reapply. Rainbow was therefore assessed on ICVCM’s non-CORSIA pathway, which requires programs to submit all relevant information so that ICVCM can assess the requirements of CORSIA rules as well as ICVCM’s Assessment Framework.

NOTES TO EDITORS

For more information and to arrange interviews please contact:

Conor Quinn conor.quinn@greenhouse.agency
Greenhouse Communications icvcm@greenhouse.agency

ICVCM assessments and approvals to date

Since taking its first Decisions on Programs in March 2024, ICVCM has approved nine Carbon Crediting Programs as CCP Eligible: ACR, ART TREES, CAR, Equitable Earth, Gold Standard, Isometric, Puro.Earth, Rainbow and Verra.

Since taking its first Decisions on Categories in May 2024, the ICVCM Governing Board has approved 38 carbon crediting methodologies as meeting the requirements of the Assessment Framework and found that 22 methodologies did not. The majority of ICVCM CCP-Approved Decisions were on new versions of methodologies (and thus with very low issued volume), which reflects the fact that meeting the Assessment Framework is a high bar.See Assessment Status.

As a result of the assessment decisions to date, an estimated 106 million credits have been approved to use the CCP label. Of these, approximately 52 million appear to be available in the market. Source: MSCI, accessed 23 February 2026.

About the Integrity Council

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (Integrity Council) is an independent, non-profit governance body for the voluntary carbon market, which aims to ensure the voluntary carbon market accelerates climate action.

The Integrity Council sets and maintains a global threshold for quality in the voluntary carbon market. The threshold is based on the Integrity Council’s Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) and is implemented through an Assessment Framework that sets out what high quality means by reference to those principles. The result is the CCP label which provides a credible, rigorous, and readily accessible means of identifying high-quality carbon credits. The Assurance process ensures continued adherence to the requirements of the Assessment Framework and related procedure.