The Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) are a global benchmark for high-integrity carbon credits that set rigorous thresholds on disclosure and sustainable development.

Developed with input from hundreds of organizations throughout the voluntary carbon market, the CCPs provide a credible and rigorous means of identifying high-integrity carbon credits that create real, verifiable climate impact, based on the latest science and best practice.

The 10 Core Carbon Principles

What makes a carbon credit ‘high integrity’? In consultation with stakeholders across the market, the Integrity Council has developed 10 Core Carbon Principles which set out the key principles for high-integrity carbon credits:

A. Governance

1. Effective governance

The carbon-crediting program shall have effective program governance to ensure transparency, accountability, continuous improvement and the overall quality of carbon credits.

2. Tracking

The carbon-crediting program shall operate or make use of a registry to uniquely identify, record and track mitigation activities and carbon credits issued to ensure credits can be identified securely and unambiguously.

3. Transparency

The carbon-crediting program shall provide comprehensive and transparent information on all credited mitigation activities. The information shall be publicly available in electronic format and shall be accessible to non-specialised audiences, to enable scrutiny of mitigation activities.

4. Robust independent third-party validation and verification

The carbon-crediting program shall have program-level requirements for robust independent third-party validation and verification of mitigation activities.

B. Emissions Impact

5. Additionality

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions or removals from the mitigation activity shall be additional, i.e., they would not have occurred in the absence of the incentive created by carbon credit revenues.

6. Permanence

The GHG emission reductions or removals from the mitigation activity shall be permanent or, where there is a risk of reversal, there shall be measures in place to address those risks and compensate reversals.

7. Robust quantification of emission reductions and removals

The GHG emission reductions or removals from the mitigation activity shall be robustly quantified, based on conservative approaches, completeness and scientific methods.

8. No double counting

The GHG emission reductions or removals from the mitigation activity shall not be double counted, i.e., they shall only be counted once towards achieving mitigation targets or goals. Double counting covers double issuance, double claiming, and double use.

C. Sustainable Development

9. Sustainable development benefits and safeguards

The carbon-crediting program shall have clear guidance, tools and compliance procedures to ensure mitigation activities conform with or go beyond widely established industry best practices on social and environmental safeguards while delivering positive sustainable development impacts.

10. Contribution toward net zero transition

The mitigation activity shall avoid locking-in levels of GHG emissions, technologies or carbon-intensive practices that are incompatible with the objective of achieving net zero GHG emissions by mid-century. 

Why we need high integrity carbon credits

 High-integrity carbon credits can unlock urgently needed finance to reduce and remove billions of tonnes of emissions. The world is on track for 2.6°C warming by 2100. We need every tool available working at full speed to secure a liveable future. A high-integrity voluntary carbon market is one important tool that can help finance the transition to 1.5°C.

The Core Carbon Principles were developed to build trust, unlock additional investment and help deliver real climate impact at the speed and scale needed to transition to 1.5°C.

CCP-labelled credits will give buyers more confidence in easily identifying and pricing high-integrity carbon credits, no matter who issues them or what sort of project they fund, or where it is generated. This will reduce confusion, overcome market fragmentation, and give buyers confidence that they are funding projects making a genuine impact on emissions.

As a result, capital will be channelled towards the most impactful, low-cost climate mitigation activities globally at pace, which is particularly critical for developing economies.

How a high integrity carbon market aids the just transition

A high-integrity voluntary carbon market can further accelerate the uptake of emerging technologies, protect and promote nature and biodiversity, and put vital funding into the hands of the indigenous peoples and local communities who are critical stewards of our core carbon sinks.  

An ambitious – but achievable – benchmark

With the Core Carbon Principles, an ambitious but achievable threshold for high-integrity carbon credits has been set. And this is just the beginning – the Integrity Council has also established a pathway for continuous improvement, working with our stakeholders across the market to continually improve and strengthen the CCPs over time. 

The 2022 Public Consultation

With the Core Carbon Principles, an ambitious but achievable threshold for high-integrity carbon credits has been set. And this is just the beginning – the Integrity Council has also established a pathway for continuous improvement, working with our stakeholders across the market to continually improve and strengthen the CCPs over time. 

The Integrity Council has worked hard to build a common understanding of what high integrity means for carbon credits. The CCPs are informed by the insights and experience of more than 350 organizations. These include carbon-crediting programs and project developers, academics, NGOs and Indigenous Peoples, policymakers, buyers and investors, who took part in the public consultation on the draft Core Carbon Principles. Over 5,000 comments were gathered over the 60-day period, demonstrating the strong level of commitment to high integrity across the whole voluntary carbon market and beyond. 

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