VCMI’s new framework needlessly endangers its credibility

Carbon Market Watch criticizes VCMI's revised Scope 3 Framework, asserting that it allows companies to pollute up to 25% beyond their annual scope 3 decarbonisation targets until 2038. The organization argues this flexibility undermines the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C goal and creates a 'green fig leaf' for climate laggards, particularly in sectors that are easier to decarbonise than the hard-to-abate industries the framework was intended for.

• The revised Scope 3 Framework allows companies to exceed their annual scope 3 decarbonisation targets by 25% until the year 2038.
• The 25% annual overshoot permitted by the framework significantly exceeds the approximately 4% annual reduction rate required between 2020 and 2030 to align with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C warming limit.
• VCMI's 2038 phase-out date is based on the timeline for hard-to-abate sectors like trucking, shipping, and aviation to align with 'well below 2°C' trajectories, but other sectors such as aluminium (2031), chemicals (2033), steel (2033), and cement (2037) should reach compatibility with Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) pathways sooner.
• Because the framework is voluntary, there is a risk of adverse selection where companies in sectors that are easier to decarbonise adopt rules designed for hard-to-abate sectors to justify inaction.

APA

Dufrasne, G. (2024). VCMI’s new framework needlessly endangers its credibility. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2024/09/02/vcmis-new-framework-needlessly-endangers-its-credibility/

Chicago

Dufrasne, Gilles. VCMI’s new framework needlessly endangers its credibility. Carbon Market Watch, 2024. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2024/09/02/vcmis-new-framework-needlessly-endangers-its-credibility/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Dufrasne |first1=Gilles |title=VCMI’s new framework needlessly endangers its credibility |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=2 September 2024 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2024/09/02/vcmis-new-framework-needlessly-endangers-its-credibility/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{dufrasne2024vcmis, author = {Dufrasne, Gilles}, title = {{VCMI’s new framework needlessly endangers its credibility}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2024/09/02/vcmis-new-framework-needlessly-endangers-its-credibility/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }