Integrity Council approves first three biochar carbon credit methodologies for CCP label

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market has approved the first three biochar methodologies to sell carbon credits under the Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label of integrity.

Biochar, a carbon-rich material produced from biomass such as agricultural residues or wood through pyrolysis, is an increasingly popular carbon credit choice, often marketed as permanent carbon dioxide removal. Microsoft, for example, agreed to purchase 1.24 million tonnes of biochar carbon removal credits certified by Puro.earth last May.

But until now, none of the methodologies developed by carbon market players had been reviewed by the Council for integrity. Today (August 13), ICVCM has given its seal of approval to three such methodologies: Climate Action Reserve’s (CAR) U.S. and Canada Biochar (Version 1.0), Isometric’s Biochar Production and Storage (Version 1.0), and Verra’s VM0044 Methodology for Biochar Utilization in Soil and Non-Soil Applications (Version 1.2). (Puro.earth’s methodology is still being reviewed.)

All three methodologies are new and have issued no credits to date, though 25 projects have been registered under Isometric’s standard and three under VM0044 – with nearly 750,000 credits expected to come online starting next year.

Annette Nazareth, Chair of the Integrity Council, said: “Biochar is a rapidly growing segment of the carbon market and the approvals announced today underscore the credibility of this emerging climate solution. We look forward to seeing more projects developed under these newly approved methodologies, adding to the pool of high integrity credits that will soon be available to buyers.”

Improved Forest Management methodologies also get CCP approval

The ICVCM has also approved two methodologies for Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects,  which improve forestry practices to increase carbon sequestration and reduce emissions, and currently make up 4% of the voluntary carbon market.

IFM practices can include extending harvest rotation periods, production and conservation measures such as maintaining areas of forest for preservation and not harvest. 

The CCP-approved methodologies are Verra’s VM0045 Methodology for Improved Forest Management Using Dynamic Matched Baselines from National Forest Inventories (Version 1.2), and ACR’s – Improved Forest Management (IFM) on Non-Federal U.S. Forestlands (Version 2.1), the latter under certain conditions.

Two projects are currently undergoing validation under VM0045 and expect to issue 258,000 credits annually.

Another IFM methodology has been asked to make some changes in order to continue the CCP approval process: CAR’s Mexico Forest Protocol v3 has been approved pending the revision of leakage accounting to allow values consistent with the latest research. This remedial action must be completed before any carbon credits can be labelled as CCP-approved.