Open letter to the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative

Global Witness and CLARA criticize the VCMI's Provisional Claims Code of Practice, arguing it enables greenwashing and ignores the scientific reality that avoided emissions cannot balance current emissions. They contend that the voluntary carbon market facilitates the appropriation of lands in the global South by the global North and distracts from the mandatory decarbonization and consumption reductions necessary to meet the 1.5C Paris Agreement target.

• The VCMI's Provisional Claims Code of Practice is viewed as a potential 'high quality' greenwashing exercise that fails to address the scientific fact that emissions reductions or avoided emissions cannot offset current emissions.
• The voluntary carbon market is described as a flawed response to the climate crisis that threatens the 1.5C Paris Agreement target and perpetuates inequities where the global North appropriates ecosystems and lands in the global South.
• The initiative is criticized for creating a false sense of integrity that may delay the implementation of enforceable standards for industrial redesign, lower consumption, and mandatory decarbonization.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). Open letter to the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/open-letter-voluntary-carbon-market-integrity-initiative/

Chicago

Global Witness. Open letter to the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/open-letter-voluntary-carbon-market-integrity-initiative/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Global Witness |title=Open letter to the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/open-letter-voluntary-carbon-market-integrity-initiative/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{globalwitnessndopen, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Open letter to the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative}}, publisher = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/open-letter-voluntary-carbon-market-integrity-initiative/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }