New Partnership Bridges Science and Standards for Nature-Based Carbon Credits

The Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM) and the Science for High-Integrity Frameworks to Transform Carbon Markets initiative (SHIFT CM) announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the development of high-integrity, science-led, nature-based carbon markets. This collaboration will run through 2026 and is designed to align scientific research with the evolving needs of carbon market governance.

“This partnership is an important step in furthering the Integrity Council’s efforts to bring a science-based approach to the assessment of carbon credits. Our science-based Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) require programs and methodologies of all project types to ensure that carbon credits make a genuine impact on emissions and support sustainable development and the protection of nature,” said Pedro Barata, Governing Board Member of ICVCM.

“Our partnership with SHIFT CM will ensure our continuous improvement work relating to nature-based methodologies is informed by cutting edge research. We aim to expand our network of partnerships with research organizations and initiatives over time to support this work which addresses complex market challenges and explore areas for innovation”.

Under the agreement, ICVCM and SHIFT CM will serve as mutual advisors. ICVCM will provide insight into methodological gaps in nature-based carbon accounting, while SHIFT CM will help shape its research agenda to address the most pressing challenges in the market. Initial topics include leakage quantification, reversal risk compensation, digital MRV best practices, baseline selection, and durability optimization.

“The science is clear: When designed and governed with integrity, carbon credits are a powerful tool for climate mitigation,” said Clare Shakya, Global Managing Director of Climate at The Nature Conservancy. “SHIFT CM has brought together more than 40 scientists from diverse institutions. Aligning their research with ICVCM’s standards, will help ensure that natural climate solutions financed by carbon markets deliver real, measurable impact.”

Together, ICVCM and SHIFT CM aim to enhance market confidence by demonstrating a shared commitment to transparency, rigor, and continuous improvement. While the partnership does not guarantee adoption of SHIFT CM’s outputs, it ensures that scientific insights are considered in shaping the future of carbon credit quality.

About The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market

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 aims to set and maintain a voluntary global threshold standard for quality in the voluntary carbon market. The threshold standard 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 a threshold standard and label that provide a credible, rigorous, and readily accessible means of identifying high-quality
carbon credits.

About SHIFT CM

SHIFT CM, Science for High-Integrity Frameworks to Transform Carbon Markets, is an initiative working to streamline and disseminate science to support the continuous improvement of natural climate solutions (NCS) credit markets. Led by The Nature Conservancy and Yale University, SHIFT CM is composed of more than 40 world-class researchers and practitioners dedicated to solutions-oriented science for NCS.