The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s (ICVCM) latest round of methodology approvals signals an important shift in the market’s quality landscape. Several biochar and improved forest management (IFM) methodologies have cleared the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles assessment – an endorsement that reflects progress, but not perfection.

What the ICVCM approval signals and what it doesn’t

ICVCM-approved methodologies meet baseline criteria for additionality, monitoring, durability and transparency – marking a step forward in standardization. However, they don’t guarantee a flawless project – project-level GHG integrity still depends on how rigorously those rules are applied and whether claims are transparently backed by verifiable evidence.