Key takeaways from the state of the VCM 2024 webinar

Calyx Global recently hosted a webinar, expanding on the insights from our report on the state of quality in the voluntary carbon market (VCM). Here are three key takeaways from presenters Donna Lee and Linda Rivera Macedo of Calyx Global and Margaret Morales of GreenBiz Group:

1. The shift towards higher quality takes time

The carbon market seems to be moving towards higher quality credits, but there's a noticeable lag between upstream changes and their broader market impact. Donna highlighted this with a graphic illustrating the lengthy process of transforming a carbon project into a credit. While the VCM seems to be on a positive trajectory, patience and persistence are required to see this fully reflected in the market.

2. Back to basics: Improving the basic “plumbing” of the VCM

When Donna was asked about digital monitoring, reporting and verification (DMRV), she noted that the “plumbing” of DMRV was most needed. While some tend to focus on “bells and whistles” of the market, such as AI or high resolution remote sensing data, these are secondary (or even tertiary) to fixing the fundamental quality issues in the VCM today. For example, some of the basic structures of carbon market registries (e.g. access to and organization of project documentation) can be standardized to improve the transparency and accessibility of carbon project information. Maintaining consistent reporting structures and formats is an important step to scaling up the market. 

3. Raising the standard for benefits beyond carbon

A critical area of improvement lies in developing strong benefits beyond carbon, in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Linda noted updates to the VCS standard, which now requires results and verification for at least three SDGs (one being SDG 13: climate action). In the past, this was not a requirement of the VCS. As she stated, this update encourages project developers to demonstrate how they are contributing to SDGs and will promote a market that generates more benefits beyond carbon. It will also ensure that less charismatic project types, which often generate benefits beyond carbon, report on such contributions.

To improve quality beyond carbon, carbon credit buyers can first use a standard that has a minimum bar for SDG verification, then engage partners such as Calyx Global or consultants to ensure projects live up to their claims.

Conclusion

Our motivation for producing this report was to assess if media and stakeholder scrutiny of the voluntary carbon market was paying off. The panel answered this question for the audience with cautious optimism based on the progress they were seeing. In addition, Margaret Morales shared her vision for the role the media can play in the future of the carbon market – “I think that media can play a great role as a watchdog. That's a really powerful role, but it can play a lot of other roles too. If you look back in times of global crisis, media and writers can galvanize action, they can educate, create a vision of the future – they can produce hope.” In light of recent media scrutiny on companies engaging in the carbon markets, Margaret notes that imperfect action is still a step forward, and most importantly, is better than inaction. “Imperfect action is powerful and I'm thrilled to tell those stories.”

Calyx Global will release the next State of Quality in the VCM report in 2025. To read our 2024 report, access it here or watch the webinar on-demand.