Climate Impact Partners comments on VCMI's new guidance

Today, the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) issued additional guidance to its Claims Code of Practice, an initiative creating a framework for consistent claims of corporate climate action, designed to be clear and transparent about the use of carbon offsetting and ensure increased ambition over time. 

The guidance includes a Monitoring, Reporting and Assurance (MRA) Framework, a brand and associated mark for making ‘Carbon Integrity’ Claims, and a beta version of an additional claim, designed to be more flexible. As outlined in the original Claims Code of Practice released in June, companies can now make Silver, Gold, or Platinum Claims when using high-quality carbon credits.

Rebecca Fay, Chief Marketing Officer at Climate Impact Partners, shares her views on the update.

Put credible claims within all companies’ grasp

“We want the VCMI’s Claims Code to fling the doors wide open to a big climate action tent and crowd everyone inside, but it still risks being an exclusive closed-door event.

The UN’s latest report delivers an uncomfortable truth – if we want to stay on a pathway to 1.5 degrees, we need to reduce emissions by 42% by 2030. Under current policies, they’ll rise by 3%. Private-sector climate action is more critical than ever to plug this gap. But, in a landscape where companies’ fear of reprisal for their climate claims ends up silencing them, they need the backing of a strong framework. The VCMI’s Claims Code provides this, and those companies reaching its high bar should proudly communicate their claims – encouraging others to do the same.

But today’s updates have only seen the bar shift down a fraction, remaining too high for many – creating an exclusive club of companies able to reach it. While some thought has been given to providing the building blocks that will help more companies step up, through the Scope 3 flexibility option, it’s disappointing to wait until Q3 of 2024 for full details: we need to provide the ‘on-ramp’ to encourage so much more climate action from the private sector right now.”