UK looks to strengthen role of high-integrity voluntary carbon markets in meeting global climate targets
London, United Kingdom – April 17, 2025: The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) welcomes today’s launch of a consultation by UK Government on strengthening voluntary carbon and nature markets.
The process now underway will define the standards required to underpin the integrity of these markets and scale them up. This will significantly enhance their contribution to global climate and nature goals, and increase the flow of finance for climate action, particularly to emerging markets and developing economies.
The consultation proposes that voluntary standards developed by VCMI are adopted as best practice, for use by companies active in the voluntary carbon market. It also seeks views on guidance from VCMI, designed for companies and policy makers, to help tackle corporate scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.
Building business confidence
Robust and well-governed voluntary carbon markets play an important role in driving down global emissions, scaling climate and nature finance, and empowering businesses to go further and faster in delivering on climate commitments.
VCMI’s Claims Code of Practice is one of the key standards recognised by the UK Government as critical to raising integrity of climate and nature markets. In endorsing and clarifying relevant standards, the UK Government is providing companies with greater certainty on what best practice looks like and how to demonstrate alignment.
“Voluntary carbon markets are essential for mobilizing additional finance to address the climate crisis,” adds Usha Rao-Monari, VCMI Steering Committee Chair and former Under Secretary-General of the UN. “By building on standards already set by VCMI, the UK is helping to provide the clarity and assurance businesses need to invest in high-quality carbon credits, deliver financial flows to support low carbon sustainable development in developing economies, and accelerate global progress towards net zero.”
The consultation follows existing UK Government principles for voluntary carbon and nature markets integrity. It also sees the UK build on its international leadership on enabling greater climate action from business, especially in seeking views on new approaches developed by VCMI for companies to address a shortfall in scope 3 emissions reductions.
Unlocking action on scope 3 emissions
Scope 3 emissions, generated ‘indirectly’ across a company’s value chain, commonly represent the largest share of a company’s carbon footprint and are the most challenging to reduce. Among other data sources, analysis by CDP and Bain found that 47% of companies with net zero commitments are ‘well behind’ on delivering their scope 3 targets. The UK Government is looking at how high-integrity carbon credits can help close this ‘scope 3 emissions gap’.
The consultation seeks views on new ways to address unabated scope 3 emissions2, principally the opportunities and guardrails set out in VCMI’s scope 3 guidance. This has been developed to enable companies to work on direct emissions reductions and also use carbon credits to address unabated scope 3 emissions, while getting back to their science-aligned decarbonization target. VCMI will publish its Scope 3 Action Code of Practice on 30 April.
“Most companies’ emissions are generated by activities outside their core operations and across their wider value chains – their scope 3 emissions. However, despite the importance of these emissions, most firms are falling behind on their scope 3 targets and global emissions continue to grow. Closing this scope 3 emissions gap is key to meeting global climate goals.” said Mark Kenber, Executive Director of VCMI, “When facing barriers to decarbonisation, companies should be encouraged to invest and take responsibility for their excess emissions. Acknowledging this isn’t about giving companies opportunities to do less, but more, and the UK Government is right to explore options for driving further action.”
VCMI encourages companies and business groups to share their views with the UK Government on how high-integrity use of carbon credits could raise their climate ambition and action. VCMI is engaging with other leading governments around the world to drive the consistency and clarity of businesses need to invest in carbon markets and accelerate progress towards global net zero.
Notes to Editor:
- Bain and CDP (2024) p33, link.
- The proposals put forward in the consultation are based on VCMI’s beta Scope 3 Claim and forthcoming Scope 3 Action Code of Practice, to be launched later this month.
- The VCMI Claims Code of Practice addresses integrity on the demand side, by guiding companies and other nonstate actors on how they can credibly make voluntary use of carbon credits as part of their climate commitments and on how they communicate use of those credits.
- ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles – which set the supply-side standards for high-quality carbon credits – are also proposed in the consultation to be recognised as best practice. Together, VCMI and ICVCM work in close partnership to create an end-to-end model to achieve a voluntary carbon market with integrity, by providing clear guidance from both the demand and supply sides.
For media enquiries, please contact: VCMI@bcw-global.com