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Climate change: UK-backed initiative aims to tackle greenwashing with globally recognised emissions standards
- VCMI was launched last July with funding from the UK government and the philanthropic arm of the Children’s Investment Fund Management hedge fund
- VCMI’s proposed guidelines will be tested in the year’s second-half by businesses to ascertain their practicality
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UK-backed Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) has proposed guidelines to assess companies based on the credibility of their carbon emissions claims in a bid to address greenwashing concerns.
The attempt to steer companies to adopt a widely recognised global framework with clear and agreed definitions is important because the current terminology and standards leave a lot to be desired and have left investors confused.
“Such guidance is essential to ensure the integrity of voluntary carbon markets,” said VCMI steering committee co-chairs Tariye Gbadegesin and Rachel Kyte in a consultation paper on Tuesday. “Only with integrity can these markets scale to mobilise the resources and emissions reduction necessary to support achievement of the Paris Agreement goals.”
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VCMI was launched in July last year with funding from the UK government and the philanthropic arm of the Children’s Investment Fund Management hedge fund.
09:22
Central under water in 80 years? Hong Kong’s coming climate crisis
Central under water in 80 years? Hong Kong’s coming climate crisis
Its initiative will have implications for Hong Kong, which harbours ambition of becoming a regional market for carbon credits trading, by acting as a bridge between surging global demand for carbon footprint offsets and the world’s largest potential supplier of carbon credits, China.
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