Amit Sharma’s Post

🇺🇸 The U.S. Federal departments and offices have just released the "Voluntary Carbon Markets Joint Policy Statement and Principles. We celebrate more clarity on the direction of this important market and its role in the climate crisis. Principles for Responsible Participation in Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs) 🌐 Carbon credits and the activities that generate them should meet credible atmospheric integrity standards and represent real decarbonization. Activities should be certified to a robust standard for activity design and MMRV (measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification) of emission reductions or removals. 🌿 Credit-generating activities should avoid environmental and social harm and should, where applicable, support co-benefits and transparent and inclusive benefits-sharing. Activities should avoid negative impacts on local communities, land use, food security, nature, and biodiversity, and seek to enhance positive impacts. 🔗 Corporate buyers that use credits ("credit users") should prioritize measurable emissions reductions within their own value chains. Credits should complement within-value-chain emissions reductions as part of their net-zero strategies. 📢 Credit users should publicly disclose the nature of purchased and retired credits. Disclosure should include details that enable assessment of the credits' integrity and their environmental and social impacts. 🌟 - Public claims by credit users should accurately reflect the climate impact of retired credits and should only rely on credits that meet high integrity standards. Claims should reflect the actual impact of the credits and prioritize within-value-chain emissions reductions. 🔄 Market participants should contribute to efforts that improve market integrity. This includes developing and purchasing high-integrity credits, improving transparency, and promoting fair treatment of suppliers. ⚙️ Policymakers and market participants should facilitate efficient market participation and seek to lower transaction costs. This involves expanding market opportunities for credible credit providers and addressing barriers such as high transaction costs. What are Voluntary Carbon Markets? 🌱 Voluntary Carbon Markets enable the trading of carbon credits, which are instrumental in offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. These markets are critical for mobilizing private sector engagement and capital for climate action, supplementing direct emission reduction efforts. Gratitude extends to the myriad of experts and organizations contributing to this comprehensive framework, ensuring that VCMs operate with the highest integrity and effectiveness. Direct link to the full statement and principles: https://lnkd.in/eHVbP6kb

Principles for High-Integrity Voluntary Carbon Markets from the White House #carbonmarkets #whitehouse #vcm 💡 Carbon credits and the activities that generate them should meet credible atmospheric integrity standards and represent real #decarbonization. ⚡ Credit-generating activities should avoid #environmental and #social harm and should, where applicable, support co-benefits and transparent and inclusive benefits-sharing. 📢 Corporate buyers that use credits should prioritize measurable #emissions reductions within their own value chains. 🎺 Credit users should publicly disclose the #nature of purchased and retired credits. 📀 Public claims by credit users should accurately reflect the #climate impact of retired credits and should only rely on credits that meet high integrity standards. 🎧 Market participants should contribute to efforts that improve market integrity. 🥁 Policymakers and market participants should facilitate #efficient market participation and seek to lower #transaction costs. The statement link here: https://lnkd.in/e2w2U4-y ---------------------------- Download the digital app: https://lnkd.in/eeXrY-2j

The Biden-Harris administration has committed to achieving climate goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. As part of this effort, they have released a Joint Statement of Policy and new Principles for Responsible Participation in Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs) to advance high-integrity VCMs, in an attempt to drive credible climate action and generate economic opportunities across the US economy. The principles include: 🔹Carbon credits and the activities that generate them should meet credible atmospheric integrity standards and represent real decarbonisation. 🔹Credit-generating activities should avoid environmental and social harm and should, where applicable, support co-benefits and transparent and inclusive benefits-sharing. 🔹Corporate buyers that use credits should prioritise measurable emissions reductions within their own value chains. 🔹Credit users should publicly disclose the nature of purchased and retired credits. 🔹Public claims by credit users should accurately reflect the climate impact of retired credits and should only rely on credits that meet high integrity standards. 🔹Market participants should contribute to efforts that improve market integrity. 🔹Policymakers and market participants should facilitate efficient market participation and seek to lower transaction costs. The intended incentives and guardrails include: 🔹The USDA is implementing programs to lower barriers to market participation and connect landowners with resources for carbon credit generation. 🔹The Department of Energy (DOE)'s support of technologies that remove carbon emissions directly from the atmosphere through competitive credit purchase programs. 🔹Administration investment in programmes to develop and deploy carbon removal technologies, aiming for commercial viability and community benefits. 🔹US departments and agencies will participate in international efforts to shape the quality of activities and credits in VCMs. 🔹The US government will aid the development of high-integrity VCMs in developing countries, providing technical and financial assistance. 🔹Treasury’s Principles for Net-Zero Financing and Investment support net-zero commitments and market integrity. 🔹The Administration will undertake efforts to improve GHG measurement, monitoring, and reporting, ensuring the scientific integrity of credited activities. 🔹Regulatory agencies promote VCM integrity by addressing fraudulent activities and bad actors. 🔹An interagency Task Force on Voluntary Carbon Markets ensures a coordinated approach to address market challenges and opportunities. The White House - FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Principles for High-Integrity Voluntary Carbon Markets - https://lnkd.in/d_iSzWH9 #greenhousegas #carboncredit #carbonmarket

📢 Exciting News for Carbon Markets! 🌍 Yesterday, the Biden-Harris Administration took a monumental step by announcing new Principles for Responsible Participation in Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs). This initiative, championed by key figures such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, underscores the administration's commitment to advancing high-integrity VCM. Here's why this is a game-changer: 1️⃣ Mobilising Private Capital: The VCM has the potential to unlock significant private investments, directing crucial funds towards decarbonisation projects and innovative climate technologies. 2️⃣ Ensuring Market Integrity: The new principles set robust standards to ensure that carbon credits represent real, additional, and verified emissions reductions. This addresses existing challenges and restores confidence in VCM. 3️⃣ Driving Economic Opportunity: By supporting diverse stakeholders, from farmers and small businesses to cutting-edge tech companies, the VCM can generate steady revenue streams and encourage economic development around the world. 4️⃣ Promoting Environmental Justice: The principles ensure that VCM activities avoid harm, support co-benefits, and advance environmental justice, benefiting Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and conserving natural resources. As we strive to reach net-zero by 2050, these high-integrity VCMs will be crucial. They not only complement other ambitious climate actions but also catalyse necessary financial resources to combat climate change effectively.🌱 #CarbonMarkets #CarbonCredits #Sustainability #ClimateAction #BidenHarrisAdministration The White House For more details, you can view the full announcement: https://lnkd.in/e2w2U4-y

This morning, the U.S. government made an important announcement on voluntary #carbon markets. Our summary is below. 📢 Today, the U.S. government released a Joint Statement of Policy and new Principles for Responsible Participation in Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs). At their core, the Principles aim to deliver credibility into the #VCMs. The U.S. government wants to be sure that stakeholders can be certain that one credit truly represents one metric ton of carbon dioxide reduced or removed from the atmosphere. The Principles also aim to deliver leadership that the U.S. government believes today's disparate VCMs lack.   The Principles:   1. Carbon credits and the activities that generate them should meet credible atmospheric integrity standards and represent real decarbonization. 2. Credit-generating activities should avoid environmental and social harm and should, where applicable, support co-benefits and transparent and inclusive benefits-sharing. 3. Corporate buyers that use credits should prioritize measurable emissions reductions within their own value chains. 4. Credit users should publicly disclose the nature of purchased and retired credits. 5. Public claims by credit users should accurately reflect the climate impact of retired credits and should only rely on credits that meet high integrity standards. 6. Market participants should contribute to efforts that improve market integrity. 7. Policymakers and market participants should facilitate efficient market participation and seek to lower transaction costs.   The current administration is announcing the following select actions alongside today's release of its Principles:   🔶 The USDA is publishing a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register asking for public input relating to current protocols used in VCMs. The goal will be to drive farmers, ranchers, and private landowners towards trusted third-party verifiers and technical assistance providers.   🔶 The DOE announced semifinalists for its $35 million Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize, whereby DOE will purchase carbon removal credits directly from sellers on a competitive basis. The DOE also issued a notice of intent for a Voluntary Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Challenge, which proposes to create a public leaderboard for voluntary carbon removal purchases while helping to connect buyers and sellers. Verra Climate Action Reserve Gold Standard ACR at Winrock International The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) Government announcement: https://lnkd.in/e2w2U4-y.

The voluntary carbon market (#VCM) is important for Agroforestry Partners. We are in favor of industry prioritizing direct emission reductions in their value chain, but there will absolutely be a place for carbon offset purchases going forward, as economies grow and hard-to-abate sectors hit a ceiling on carbon reductions. Our #agroforestry projects can deliver high quality carbon offsets to these segments. Carbon offsets and the VCM are also critical from another vantage point: project funding. Our U.S. agroforestry projects can stand on their own, financially, but our investors demand that carbon sequestration be part of the co-benefit package when analyzing their return structure. Without carbon sequestration and #biodiversity elements to our projects, we would have a hard time funding the planting of our #chestnut and #hay agroforestry systems. Improved credibility and better leadership surrounding the VCM will only be a good thing for our fund and its partners.

Last week, our VP, Brendon Steele hosted Nathan Truitt, EVP of Climate Funding at American Forest Foundation, for a timely discussion with our Corporate Affinity Network (CAN) on the business case for assuring the integrity of voluntary #carbon markets. As world governments are increasingly pricing pollution and valuing nature, it will be key for companies and advocates to advance voluntary markets to progress carbon and nature-related pricing and disclosures building on frameworks such as the Science-Based Targets (SBT) for carbon and nature and Taskforce on Climate and Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD & TNFD). Yesterday, the US government reinforced the timeliness of our discussion by endorsing the voluntary carbon market, calling for higher integrity among all market actors to address issues such as permanence, additionality, leakage and equity. While much of our discussion with Nathan occurred under the Chatham House Rule, we summarized some key points to share publicly to help guide companies engaging in carbon markets to help assure high-integrity carbon markets. #carbon #nature #forests #climate #science #business #integrity #transparency https://lnkd.in/g57s9vNT

The US Government (USG) has staked one of the strongest positions, from a government, on the role of the Voluntary Carbon Market in global decarbonization. The “VCM Joint Policy Statement and Principles” made by the White House, Treasury, and Departments of Energy and Agriculture clearly states a belief that the VCM “can and should play a meaningful role” in the fight against climate change. BUT, there are also words of caution. The USG appears to be at pains in referring to a high-integrity VCM “with the right incentives and guardrails in place.” It makes clear that the current state of the VCM requires improvements. It expresses a need for more robust standards, improved safeguards and recognizes a need to instill market confidence.. If you want the quick-and dirty version of the seven principles it outlines, we offer them here in short-hand: 1. Carbon credits should have credible atmospheric integrity 2. Credits should do no harm and deliver benefits beyond carbon 3. Corporate buyers should reduce, before offsetting, emissions 4. Credit users should be transparent about purchases and retirements 5. Public claims should be high-integrity 6. Market participants should help improve market integrity 7. Policymakers, corporates and NGOs should work together to drive market efficiency The principles themselves are not revolutionary, but the statement is a clear, first “stake in the ground” by the US government in support of a high-integrity VCM. The work of the The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), VCMI and rating agencies was called out as part of this announcement. Calyx Global is already supporting many of the principles in the USG’s statement. Our mission, through our ratings, is to drive the market to higher quality. This includes improving the GHG integrity of the current market and encouraging stronger SDG impact and better safeguards for environmental and social risks. Our work to support this mission has yielded some surprising findings. To hear more about what we’ve learned after analyzing 500+ carbon projects, and what the market can do to create a high-integrity VCM, register for our upcoming webinar: https://lnkd.in/eU2z9qGC The full fact sheet from the US Government: https://lnkd.in/e2w2U4-y

In recent months, there has been a growing focus on the integrity and efficacy of Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs). Yesterday the U.S. government released guidance for “responsible participation” in these markets, underscoring their potential to drive global decarbonization efforts. The policy statement begins by making a case for the role VCMs can play in supporting decarbonization domestically and globally, including reducing emissions and generating co-benefits like supporting local communities, protecting ecosystem function, and conserving biodiversity. However, for VCMs to realize their full potential, the statement argues that the sector needs to address credit integrity, market functioning, and the fair treatment of all participants. Therefore the policy proposes the following principles: 🌿 Credit integrity: Carbon credits must meet high atmospheric integrity standards, ensuring they represent genuine decarbonization. This includes criteria such as additionality, uniqueness, real and quantifiable reductions, independent validation and verification, and robust baselines. 🕊️ Avoidance of harm + support for co-benefits: Credit-generating activities must avoid negative environmental and social impacts. Where possible, they should enhance positive impacts, such as sustainable economic development and biodiversity. This requires transparent and inclusive benefit-sharing arrangements. 🛢️Prioritize internal emissions reductions: Corporations using credits should first prioritize measurable emissions reductions within their own value chains. This involves taking comprehensive inventories of their emissions and setting clear reduction targets. 🧾 Disclosure: Companies must publicly disclose the nature of the credits they purchase and retire, including details that allow stakeholders to assess the integrity of these credits. ⚖️ Accurate public claims: Public claims about the impact of retired credits must accurately reflect their climate impact and should be based on high-integrity credits. 🌳 Market integrity: Participants should contribute to improving market integrity, ensuring transparency, preventing fraud, and promoting fair treatment of credit suppliers, including local communities 🤝 Facilitating market participation and reducing costs: Policymakers and market participants should work to lower transaction costs and expand opportunities for credible credit providers, especially those in the Global South. Beyond the principles, the U.S. government says it is working to support VCMs through regulatory standards, investments in data and technology, and promoting high-integrity practices, which it argues are crucial for addressing the global climate crisis while expanding economic opportunities. https://lnkd.in/gU4267si

Any new guidance and support at government level to help build a high integrity and well-regulated carbon market is welcomed by South Pole. The more active regulators become in the carbon credits market and in promoting the role they play in delivering our shared climate goals, the better. This will help the industry to accelerate much-needed trust and transparency in the market. Only then can the market fulfil its full potential for positive climate action. Clear regulation will also ensure carbon credit supply, and that trading and demand is as robust and credible as it can be. This will unlock vital global finance efficiently and at scale so we can tackle the most critical climate solutions science says we need. As a pioneer in the voluntary carbon markets, South Pole has been carefully preparing for the next phase of the market’s growth. We are working hard to stay at the forefront of the expanding ecosystem of participants and regulation by advancing our own risk, quality and compliance processes, while ensuring we can also innovate for impact in the long-term. Our hope is that other governments show greater support and additional guidance to continue to build both the credibility and capability of the carbon market. https://lnkd.in/gArPsdd3