Slaughter and May is advising the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (“ICVCM”) on legal issues relating to developing and promoting the first global threshold benchmark for high-quality carbon credits. This ongoing work is helping to build trust and confidence, as well as increasing standardisation in voluntary carbon markets (VCM).
The ICVCM is an independent, non-profit governance body for the VCM, which aims to maximise its potential to finance climate solutions. It has taken a multi-stakeholder led approach similar to that of financial regulators, to establish its Core Carbon Principles – consulting with a range of stakeholders and experts representing market practitioners, environmental NGOs and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. This consistent benchmark will enable the market to be more confident in the quality of carbon credits, enabling greater private investment to fund climate solutions and channel capital to the Global South. The ICVCM published its Core Carbon Principles in July 2023, and announced its first Board decisions on CCP-eligible carbon crediting programmes in April 2024.