VCMI lays out rules on Scope 3 carbon credit use

Carbon markets body sets 2040 deadline for corporate use of carbon credits for value chain emissions

Companies will be permitted to use carbon credits to address their value chain emissions until 2040 under new guidance from the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI). 

The body, which is backed by the likes of Google and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, has released its Scope 3 code of practice today, setting out rules for using carbon credits in climate strategies.   

Under the guidance, firms must establish the gap between their targets for value-chain emissions, and the progress they’ve made towards them. They must introduce any relevant measures to close that gap. 

After that, they can purchase carbon credits until 2040, when VCMI believes “companies should have overcome barriers and be back to their decarbonisation pathway consistent with reaching net zero”. 

VCMI’s executive director, Mark Kenber, described the new code as “a practical, science-aligned solution to help companies close the gap between ambition and action.” 

It has been backed by the UK Government, which last week proposed adopting VCMI’s standards as best practice in a public consultation. 

The chair of the International Chamber of Commerce, Philippe Varin, called on its members to follow the guidance. 

VCMI has a partnership with the Science Based Targets initiative, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets to create an ‘end-to-end integrity framework’.