Major Policy Shifts, National Initiatives, and Impact of the latest ICVCM's CCP Assessment

Authors: Micaela Passetti and Fundi Maphanga

In this edition of our newsletter, we start with a roundup of this week’s key policy updates, ensuring you stay informed on the latest developments. We begin with the latest policy stories around the VCM, and will then dive into the impact of ICVCM’s CCP assessment to reject eight renewable energy methodologies

Policy Shifts and National Initiatives: News Round-Up

Egypt

Egypt launches Africa's first national carbon market, debuts to early domestic trading: According to Egypt's Minister of Planning and Economic Development, the development of requirements and procedures for project registration are now complete and applications can now be accepted. (Source: Carbon Herald)

China

China announces 2 new methodologies for its voluntary carbon market (CCER); plans to establish 70 national standards for emission reductions and carbon capture: Two methodologies for coal mine gas, and energy efficient highway tunnel lighting are approved under the CCER framework. Currently, there are 6 methodologies approved by the Government. (Source: Carbon Herald)

China has made steps to implement regulations to support carbon emissions management - they’ve set a goal of creating 100 pilot programs for carbon emission management by 2025, following regulations earlier this year to standardise the country’s ETS. (Source: Chinese Government)

China has made progress in developing carbon capture technologies - the latest development includes the successful testing of CarbonBox - China's very own DAC facility developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and China Energy. Each module is capable of pulling more than 100 metric tons of CO2 directly from the atmosphere annually, producing a 99% pure product. (Source: Carbon Herald).

Mexico

Queretaro and MexiCO2 launch national carbon offsetting registry: The Secretariat of Sustainable Development of Queretaro and environmental markets platform MexiCO2 announce the new registry which track emissions for payment of state carbon taxes in Mexico, as well as track contributions to international climate goals under the Paris Agreement. (Source: Carbon Pulse)

Eight Renewable Energy Methodologies Fall Short in ICVCM's CCP Assessment

• Last week, the ICVCM determined that eight methodologies used in designing and implementing renewable energy projects do not meet the additionality requirements of the CCP Assessment Framework. As a result, these methodologies will not be eligible to attain the high-integrity CCP label.
• This ruling affects 12.8% of all credits issued in the market, and 7.73% of the available ones to be retired.?
• The top 10 countries most affected by the ICVCM's decision, ranked by the volume of credits issued, are predominantly located in Asia. However, the distribution of CCP-rejected remaining credits also includes South Africa, highlighting a slightly broader geographic impact.

Specifically, the ICVCM's decision affects:

• C?te d'Ivoire: 98.5% of the total remaining credits, generated by 1 project.
• Turkey: 78.7% of the remaining credits, generated by 230 projects.
• India: 24.9% of the remaining credits, generated by 553 projects.
• Thailand: 14.5% of the remaining credits, generated by 33 projects.
• South Africa: 14.2% of the remaining credits, generated by 2 projects.
• Vietnam: 13.2% of the remaining credits, generated by 48 projects.
• Indonesia: 8.5% of the remaining credits, generated by 12 projects.
• China: 3.4% of the remaining credits, generated by 341 projects.
• United States: 3% of the remaining credits, generated by 12 projects.
• Brazil: 2.5% of the remaining credits, generated by 20 projects.

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