VCMI welcomes French Government Carbon Credit Charter to stimulate high-integrity demand amongst world’s leading companies
London, United Kingdom, 25 April 2025 – The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) welcomes the announcement by the French Government of a Carbon Credit Charter pledging companies to engage in high-integrity use of carbon credits, in the tenth year since the Paris Agreement.
Launched at the ChangeNOW 2025 forum in Paris by the French Minister of Ecological Transition, Ms Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the Carbon Credit Charter commits 17 international companies to adhere to principles for high-integrity use of carbon credits, including taking into account VCMI’s international best practice approach. The pledge states that as buyers of carbon credits, the signatories commit to:
- Prioritizing their own emission reductions, clearly reporting on all three scopes and publishing a time-bound action plan for climate transition
- Using carbon credits not as a substitute but only as a complement to their gross emission reductions pathway, to address remaining emissions while on the path to net zero, and residual emissions to meet net zero
- Reporting their gross emissions, separating any use of carbon credits.
These principles align with the underpinning foundational criteria and guidance in VCMI’s Claims Code of Practice and forthcoming Scope 3 Action Code of Practice.
Commenting on the launch of the charter, VCMI’s Director of Policy and Partnerships, Lydia Sheldrake, said:
“The French government has shown international leadership by convening a group of high-ambition businesses to commit to using carbon credits with confidence and credibility. High-integrity carbon markets can drive immediate progress towards global climate goals. Unlocking this potential will require a robust mandate and demand signals to be in place. The French Government has stepped up to mobilize this group of leaders under a common pledge for action, and I am thrilled to see VCMI Codes of Practice at the center.”
The pledge also commits the signatories to use carbon credits aligned with the requirements of the Article 6.4 mechanism, as well as those generated from standards approved under the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles. This is vital to ensure integrity on the supply-side of carbon markets, in tandem with VCMI’s guidance on demand-side integrity.
Pledge signatories include some of the world’s leading businesses, including Schneider Electric. VCMI was established in 2021 with a goal to create the conditions for companies to confidently and credibly invest in voluntary carbon markets to maximize their contribution to global net zero and sustainable development. Today’s announcement demonstrates that VCMI’s Codes of Practice are critical to providing blueprints for governments to incentivize and scale high-integrity corporate engagement with carbon markets.
The charter builds on momentum from COP29 which saw agreement on the rulebook for carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The charter was announced at a special high-level session at ChangeNOW to reflect on progress made since the 2015 Paris Agreement, following a panel discussion between Ms Agnès Pannier-Runacher, French Minister for Ecological Transition, Simon Stiell, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, and Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Deputy Minister of Environment, Saudi Arabia, and President of COP16, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Notes to Editor:
- The Charter was announced during a session at the ChangeNOW Forum in Paris, France, which took place at 11.15 (CEST) on 24 April 2025 : https://www.changenow.world/program-2025/
- The session at ChangeNOW was closed by Merem Tahar, Special Youth Envoy of the President for the 15th UNCCD, Christina Schwarzer, Co-Founder and Global Coordinator, Global Youth Biodiversity Network; and Nisreen Elsaim, Chair of UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, Sudan Youth for Climate Change.