The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has approved four more carbon standards for participation in the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) – Gold Standard, Verra, Global Carbon Council and Climate Action Reserve.
CORSIA is the first system that spans an entire industry, allowing airline companies and operators to compensate for their emissions by purchasing carbon credits.
The decision has been eagerly awaited by voluntary carbon market (VCM) participants, as it is expected to generate a substantial amount of demand, potentially even outstripping credit supply.
Margaret Kim, CEO of Gold Standard, said: “Our new approval under ICAO’s CORSIA scheme marks a significant milestone for Gold Standard and our partners in the carbon market. We are proud to provide project developers with expanded opportunities to support global decarbonisation efforts while upholding rigorous standards for environmental integrity and sustainable development.”
Verra also shared a statement celebrating the approval of its Verified Carbon Standard Program for the First Phase of the project between 2024 and 2026. This positive decision follows Verra’s participation in the Pilot Phase of the project in the 2021-2023 period.
Two important differences have been highlighted between the Pilot and First phase.
First is that credits issued for the mechanism will require an Article 6 authorisation from the country the respective projects are based in.
Second is that carbon project developers will have to make sure they follow guidelines aimed removing double-claims between CORSIA credits and a country’s Nationally Determined Contribution. According to Verra’s statement this particular process is to be ironed out in the next few weeks.
Full ICAO approval for participation in CORSIA was already granted to two other registries – American Carbon Registry and the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions.
Read more: New Viridios Report Signals Impending Supply Crunch With CORSIA Launch
