VCMI Newsletter: Call for Feedback on the Consultation Report
Greetings,
We are delighted to share with you the first Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) newsletter. We will share regular updates as the Initiative progresses to keep you informed of our progress and what lies ahead for VCMI. Below you can find an update on recent events, publications, VCMI’s governance, and upcoming priorities, including COP26.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS & EVENTS
As part of our Global Launch event on July 29th, VCMI released a Consultation Report which is available to download on the VCMI website. The Consultation Report will shortly be available in Bahasa, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
The Report provides an overview of the opportunity for voluntary carbon markets to make a meaningful contribution towards the Paris Agreement temperature goals and explores critical issues for high integrity supply and demand in voluntary carbon markets, among other issues. We are seeking input and feedback on the Consultation Report from a large and diverse group of stakeholders as part of this process. This feedback will inform the next phase of work for VCMI. So, we encourage you submit your views via the online questionnaire by 15 September.
At the VCMI Global Launch event, co-hosted by the COP26 Presidency, Wilton Park, and VCMI, we heard from governments, businesses, civil society, and other stakeholders around the globe about the critical importance of high integrity, Paris-aligned voluntary carbon markets and the actions required to make this a reality. A recording of the Launch event is available here. The Launch received widespread media pick-up, with an audience reach of around 1.4 million.
GOVERNANCE
The VCMI Steering Committee held its first convening in early August. A diverse group by intention, the Steering Committee serves as the high-level decision-making body of VCMI and gives strategic direction to advance the overarching goals of the Initiative. During their first meeting, the Steering Committee discussed the short, medium- and long-term goals of VCMI. The body is co-chaired by Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and Tariye Gbadegesin, the Managing Director and CEO of ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investment LTD, based in Lagos, Nigeria. Other Steering Committee members include: Kate Hampton, CEO of the Children’s Investment Fund (CIFF); Pedro Moura Costa, President and BVRio Environmental Exchange; Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Global Leader of Climate and Energy and WWF International; Feike Sijbesma, Honorary Chairman Royal DSM; Mark Fulton, Founding Partner of Energy Transition Advisors; and Usha Rao-Monari, Under Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Steering Committee has also extended invitations to Indigenous Peoples’ organizations.
The Secretariat launched the Call for Nominations to the VCMI Expert Advisory Group (EAG). The EAG is being comprised of a diverse array of subject matter experts to give technical advice to the VCMI Steering Committee, as well as to consider feedback from key stakeholders and provide recommendations related to feedback on the VCMI Consultation Report.
If you are interested in putting yourself forward for the EAG, please see our Call for Nominations on the VCMI website. The call for nominations ends August 31st. We are thrilled that Kelley Kizzier of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) recently accepted as one of the chairs who will lead the EAG.
Meridian Institute is honored to house the VCMI Secretariat, supporting the VCMI SteerCo, EAG, and broader stakeholder engagement processes, all of which will inform the discussions and direction of VCMI’s work leading up to COP26 and beyond. These stakeholder groups include countries, business, civil society, and Indigenous Peoples. Stakeholders who want to actively participate in VCMI consultations are encouraged to register interest here.
You can view the Secretariat staff here.
UPCOMING PRIORITIES
With fewer than one hundred days until COP26 in Glasgow, VCMI’s focus is on the global consultation process to make progress on key areas of work, including claims guidance and country access strategies. Upcoming priorities for September include:
- Supporting meetings of the VCMI Steering Committee
- Finalizing the VCMI Expert Advisory Group and its work program
- Holding the first Country Contact Group meeting in September through our strategic partnership with UNDP
- Holding consultations with businesses, civil society, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations and others
- Engaging other relevant initiatives who are active in this space to promote complementarity and alignment
- Establishing the VCMI Grants Committee to support needed research in this area
If you have any upcoming carbon market-related events, research or activities that you would like to bring to our attention, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at vcmi@merid.org.
The VCMI Secretariat