Access Strategies Program

VCMI seeks to engage host countries and regions to facilitate participation in VCMs in ways which maximize the environmental, social, and economic benefits that carbon finance can bring.

About the VCMI Access Strategies Program

VCMI’s Access Strategies Program delivers holistic technical assistance that complements Paris Agreement frameworks.

Through the first phase of the Access Strategies Program, VCMI offered support to policymakers to access high-integrity VCMs and channel finance into priority sectors. Delivered in partnership with Climate Focus and UNDP, the Access Strategies Program engaged an initial set of host countries from June 2021 to November 2022.

The program took a country-specific perspective, considering prior experiences, national circumstances and existing carbon finance mechanisms and infrastructure. This included providing information and supporting stakeholder engagement to inform decision-making on how to direct investment from VCMs into mitigation action and align VCMs with other financial instruments to deliver national climate and economic priorities.

The first output of this program, based on feedback gathered during this first phase, is the VCM Access Strategy Toolkit (see below).

VCMI continues to support additional outputs through catalytic projects and partnerships that aim to help implement the toolkit and promote equitable market access. Knowledge products resulting from this work can be found in the library tab.

For updates on the program and Toolkit, please subscribe to the VCMI newsletter.

Access Strategies projects
around the world

Latin Ameria and the Caribbean

The Partnership for Agricultural Carbon (PAC) is a regional partnership hosted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and incubated via VCMI’s Access Strategies Program. PAC’s primary objective is to support and scale the transition towards sustainable agriculture solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) through high-integrity carbon markets.

Current funding focuses on strengthening policy frameworks and capacities for market development and creating catalytic training materials and knowledge products for key stakeholders. In the run up to COP28, where PAC was launched, Access Strategies funding supported the development of a policy brief for Agriculture ministers of the Americas exploring agricultural and blue carbon market opportunities in LAC, as well as a report setting out how to unlock carbon finance for the livestock and agroforestry sub-sectors, two of the most prominent economic activities in the region.

State of Yucatan (Mexico)

In partnership with Climate Focus and UNDP, VCMI supported and the Government of Yucatan to develop and publish best practice guidelines for private sector actors seeking to develop voluntary carbon market (VCM) projects within the state.

The State of Yucatan is recognized globally for its rich biodiversity and natural ecosystems, particularly mangrove wetlands and tropical rainforests: the Yucatan Peninsula contains 60% of the mangroves in all of Mexico.

The VCM can serve as an instrument to attract investment for conservation, restoration, and sustainable development.

To learn more, check out the Best Practice Guide and press release.

Benin

VCMI has partnered with the Government of Benin to ensure the effective integration and governance of high-integrity carbon markets within its national climate plan, as one tool among many to finance its nationally determined contribution (NDC).

Benin is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries globally. Under a business-as-usual warming scenario, it will be one of the most exposed countries to extreme temperatures by 2070. Already, climate hazards have significantly impacted its agricultural productivity, water resources, and food security.

This project will support Benin to strategically leverage carbon finance from local projects, allowing Benin to mitigate climate risks while enhancing food security and energy independence.

Kenya

VCMI funded the secondment of a carbon markets specialist to work directly within the Government of Kenya to support the development of the country’s holistic carbon market regulations (both Article 6 and voluntary).

Additionally, VCMI has supported the establishment of a collaborative and inclusive platform for public, private, and civil society stakeholders in Kenya to examine challenges, explore solutions, and develop recommendations for the growth of a high-integrity carbon market in the country, culminating in a high-level Carbon Markets Conference.

These initiatives have reinforced Kenya’s position as a global leader in producing high-quality, high-value carbon credits, attracting global investment into local climate solutions.

Peru

VCMI is collaborating with Peru’s Ministry of Environment to expand and scale the country’s voluntary carbon market. This involves evaluating a range of policy options to incentivize investment (domestic and international) into high-quality carbon projects that align with Peru’s climate and sustainable development priorities, as well as strengthening local private sector knowledge and capacities to boost developer and investor engagement.

Pakistan

Legal and policy uncertainty has slowed the growth of carbon market activities in Pakistan. To attract investment into high-integrity carbon projects, VCMI is supporting the Government of Pakistan to strengthen its legal framework on carbon markets and provide clear policy signals to market participants.

This entails developing a streamlined approach to carbon market governance by creating a single legal instrument governing both VCM and Article 6 Paris Agreement activities. The project seeks to incorporate Article 6 components, as well as recent local policy decisions, into the country’s carbon market rules.

About the Toolkit

Developed in partnership with Climate Focus and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Toolkit sets out key considerations for host countries to aid decisions on whether, why, how, and when to engage with VCMs.

Corporate commitments to climate targets are rising steeply, and with that, demand for high-quality carbon credits from credible projects. This Toolkit aims to help governments create an enabling environment to unlock this growing demand while maximising the benefits of thriving, high-integrity VCMs for their country.

Downloads

The VCM Access Strategy Toolkit is available in full, or as separate decision sheets in printable format:

Introduction to Carbon Markets – context for governments

This document, lifted from the VCM Access Strategy Toolkit, provides considerations for host countries when engaging in high-integrity voluntary carbon markets.

Download English , Français, Português, or Español.

Decision Sheets:

Read the Toolkit launch press release here:

“As it stands, few counties have clear strategies for engaging effectively with voluntary carbon markets. The launch of the VCM Access Strategy Toolkit continues our work of supporting host countries to access high-integrity VCMs, helping them to make the right decisions for them, and empowering them to reap the myriad of environmental, social and economic benefits that carbon finance offers.”

Mark Kenber Executive Director, VCMI

“The VCM Access Strategy Toolkit guides policy makers harnessing voluntary carbon markets to support the achievement of their climate and development goals. The increasing interest in carbon markets results in a flurry of requests from project developers and investors to support carbon market activities, which often overwhelm local officials with little relevant experience or expertise. At the same time, host country officials know that carbon markets provide significant opportunities to channel foreign investment and they want their countries to maximize those benefits while avoiding risks. The Toolkit gives policymakers a foundation to engage with carbon markets confidently and effectively.”

Charlotte Streck Director, Climate Focus

“Carbon markets hold immense potential for helping the world tackle the climate crisis and accelerate progress across the 2030 Agenda. A robust carbon market relies on climate-credible demand as well as stable and high-integrity supply of carbon credits. Governments are essential partners and can catalyze the generation of real and measurable greenhouse gas emission reductions and removals. UNDP is proud to be partnering with VCMI and Climate Focus on a Toolkit that provides a starting point for policymakers to consider how they engage with voluntary carbon markets as a source of much needed finance to deliver their climate targets.”

Usha Rao-Monari Associate Administrator, UNDP

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Access Strategies Toolkit