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Organizations leading voluntary carbon market reform to host VCM Day at Climate Week, New York to help deliver on the promise of high-integrity carbon markets

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The September 25 event aims to showcase the reforms made and spur the actions necessary to increase the impact of voluntary carbon markets and accelerate climate action

New York, NY (September 6, 2024) – Today, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), the Global Carbon Market Utility (GCMU), and the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) announced they will be co-hosting Accelerating Climate Action: Delivering High-Integrity Carbon Markets, an event on September 25 in New York during Climate Week focused on showcasing the reforms and actions necessary to increase the impact of voluntary carbon markets.

Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions said: “Voluntary carbon markets have the potential to help us move faster in the fight against climate change, but only if they operate with integrity and transparency. By working across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, this group can help bolster confidence in these markets, which will help build stronger economies and healthier communities.”

Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy on Climate Finance and Action and co-chair of GFANZ said: “Voluntary carbon markets can play a critical role in accelerating climate action and financing the transition to a net zero economy. But they will only fulfill their potential if they have supply, demand, market and social integrity. The inaugural VCM Day brings together organizations developing standards and infrastructure to ensure the market increases the pace of emissions reduction and investment flows to developing nations in need of capital. Now is the time to create a globally integrated, high-integrity carbon market.”

Amy Merrill, CEO, ICVCM said: “We are in a climate emergency and need to use every tool available to reduce and remove emissions and we must unlock climate finance flows. We are leading the way in delivering the high integrity, reformed voluntary carbon market that can unlock the vital private climate finance that would not otherwise be deployed. This event highlights the important progress that has been made in recent months and outlines the path ahead on our shared mission to incentivise and enable the private sector to help meet our global climate goals.”

Mark Kenber, Executive Director, VCMI said: “Most businesses recognize the imperative to act on their carbon emissions now, and many are ready to step up and deliver ambitious, rapid action, with decarbonization of operations and supply chains as the top priority. But with a robust claims framework and high-quality supply of carbon credits, companies can be supported to go even further and faster. This event is the moment for all of us to step up and harness the power of a high integrity voluntary carbon market for increased climate action, and to support resilient, sustainable low carbon growth throughout the world.”

Chris Canavan, CEO, GCMU said: “To achieve our collective net-zero goals, we must marshal tens of billions of dollars in climate finance. Carbon markets are a critical tool for helping us get there, but they are too small and ineffective today. They must grow by orders of magnitude, and for that they need the right guardrails and market infrastructure to deliver transparency and accountability across supply and demand and in the marketplace. This event will bring together the critical stakeholders from across sectors and geographies to chart a pragmatic path towards scaling the market with integrity.”

Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Accelerating Climate Action: Delivering High-Integrity Carbon Markets will bring together corporate executives, government ministers and senior officials, investors, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, civil society, project developers, and voluntary carbon market specialists to address the critical role of voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) in bridging the gap between the goals of the Paris Agreement and the current trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions. The event will also focus on the integral role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities and Global South business and governments in shaping and driving sustainable, high-integrity carbon markets. The day will be an opportunity to debate the issues, discuss progress, and set a path for continuous improvement and increased impact.

Time is running out to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, and VCMs are a critical tool that must be used to effectively address and reduce global emissions in time to avoid the worst effects of climate change. When used with integrity, high quality carbon credits provide companies and organizations an opportunity to mitigate emissions in addition to direct reductions in their own value chains while channeling vital climate finance to projects that will deliver both immediate and long-term emissions reductions. To maximize this impact, policymakers and regulators must act to help build these markets.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Government released guidance supporting the use of carbon credits and outlined principles for engaging in VCM responsibly and with integrity. Bloomberg noted this important step in leveraging markets, allowing for transparency, standardization and trust, to help drive action at the scale and efficiency required to maximize impact. The World Bank also continues to scale its carbon markets work, building institutional structure and capacity at country and global levels. However, there is still progress that needs to be made to realize results.

Media must be credentialed to attend. Please contact [email protected] to apply for credentials.

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About ICVCM

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 progress on our global climate goals. 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 VCMI

The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) is an international non-profit committed to realizing the full potential of high-integrity voluntary carbon markets (VCMs). Our mission is to empower companies, governments, and non-state actors to maximize the impact of their climate actions through the use of high-quality carbon credits. VCMI’s Claims Code of Practice provides rigorous, science-based guidance for organizations to make credible and transparent ‘Carbon Integrity’ Claims. These claims acknowledge companies that go above and beyond science-aligned emissions cuts to accelerate global net zero.

About GCMU

The Global Carbon Market Utility is a public utility designed to provide the infrastructure necessary to manage a trustworthy carbon market—including data management, contracts, audits, verification, and dispute resolution. This infrastructure will enable financial intermediaries, like banks and insurance companies, to enter the market, provide project financing, and house risk for end-buyers. The GCMU will directly plug into existing financial and regulatory infrastructure, helping to fill critical climate funding gaps quickly. The GCMU was launched at COP27 in 2022 and is supported jointly by Three Cairns Group and Bloomberg Philanthropies.