Carbon Market Integrity Map
Choose how a carbon credit will be used, then follow seven evidence gates covering eligibility, quality, accounting, registry records, retirement and claims.
Carbon markets decision tool
Carbon Market Integrity Map
Follow a carbon credit from intended use to evidence, retirement and the claim made at the end. Passing one test does not settle the next.
Choose the intended use
The same credit can face different eligibility, accounting and claim tests.
Compliance routeStart with the exact scheme, compliance period and unit rules. A general quality label cannot replace eligibility for the obligation.
Seven gates from use to claim
Intended use
What is the unit being used for?
Define the obligation, contribution or claim before comparing programmes or prices.
Boundary: A stated purpose does not establish eligibility, quality or a credible claim.
Request this evidence
- Applicable obligation or voluntary purpose
- Jurisdiction and reporting period
- Proposed public wording
- Buyer emissions boundary and climate target
Failure signal
The process starts with a programme name or price before the use is defined.
Scheme eligibility
Is this exact unit eligible for this exact use?
Check the programme, methodology, geography, vintage, phase and exclusions against the governing rule.
Boundary: Eligibility permits a specified use. It does not establish universal credit quality.
Request this evidence
- Programme and methodology
- Project geography
- Vintage and crediting period
- Scheme phase or compliance period
- Exclusions, conditions and host attestations
Failure signal
For CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation), a programme is called eligible without the relevant phase, vintage or exclusions.
Credit and methodology quality
What does the credited tonne represent?
Inspect the baseline, additionality, quantification, monitoring, permanence, leakage and safeguards behind the unit.
Boundary: A programme or category label does not settle project suitability, vintage quality or claim credibility.
Request this evidence
- Baseline and additionality case
- Quantification method and uncertainty
- Monitoring and verification records
- Permanence and reversal treatment
- Leakage assessment
- Safeguards and grievance route
- Methodology version and programme status
Failure signal
An ICVCM (Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market) programme or category decision is treated as a complete project-level verdict.
Host accounting and double counting
Could the mitigation outcome be counted or claimed twice?
Trace any host authorisation, corresponding-adjustment status, authorised purpose and national accounting treatment required for the use.
Boundary: A corresponding adjustment addresses national accounting. It is not a project-quality label or universal claim approval.
Request this evidence
- Host-country authorisation where relevant
- Corresponding-adjustment status where relevant
- Authorisation purpose and unit label
- National accounting treatment
- Controls for double issuance, use and claim
Failure signal
Article 6 aligned appears without an authorisation document, purpose or registry trail.
Registry identity and ownership
Can the unit be traced from issuance to the current holder?
Match the project, methodology, vintage and serial range to a resolving registry record and claimed holder or beneficiary.
Boundary: A registry record establishes recorded identity and status, not the underlying climate claim.
Request this evidence
- Registry and project ID
- Serial range
- Methodology and vintage
- Issuance record
- Transfer history where available
- Current account or beneficiary evidence
- Cross-registry duplication check
Failure signal
A certificate or invoice is supplied without serial numbers and a resolving registry record.
Retirement or cancellation
Was the unit taken out of circulation for the stated purpose?
Confirm the serials, quantity, date, beneficiary and purpose in the relevant retirement or cancellation record.
Boundary: Retirement prevents reuse of that serialised unit in the registry. It does not make the wider claim accurate.
Request this evidence
- Retirement, cancellation or use record
- Date and quantity
- Serial range
- Beneficiary
- Recorded purpose or claim wording
- Compliance-period link where applicable
Failure signal
Purchase is presented as retirement, or retirement as proof that the claim is accurate.
Claim, disclosure and assurance
What can the buyer now say?
Keep the wording inside the emissions boundary, claim period, reduction record, credit evidence and applicable legal or assurance rules.
Boundary: A voluntary claims framework does not replace local law or supply-side credit assessment.
Request this evidence
- Emissions inventory and boundary
- Reduction target and progress
- Role of credits alongside reductions
- Credit details and retirement evidence
- Claim period and exact wording
- Applicable advertising and reporting rules
- Validation or assurance where required
Failure signal
A VCMI (Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative) claim is broader than the emissions boundary, period or supporting evidence.
Eligible is not high qualityA scheme permission answers only the use it governs.
Issued is not retiredA live unit can still circulate or be transferred.
Retired is not a credible claimThe buyer's reductions and wording remain separate tests.
Adjusted is not quality-labelledNational accounting does not prove additionality or permanence.
Decision route
How to use the map
Choose the intended use, open each gate and assemble the records that answer it. A later document cannot repair an earlier failure: retirement cannot create eligibility, and careful wording cannot repair weak credit evidence.
Working document
Evidence checklist
0 of 14 evidence groups marked received
Your checklist is stored only in this browser.
| Gate | Evidence group | Received | Unresolved issue or source URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Intended use | Purpose, jurisdiction, period and proposed wording | ||
| 1. Intended use | Buyer inventory boundary and climate target | ||
| 2. Eligibility | Programme, methodology, geography and vintage | ||
| 2. Eligibility | Phase, period, exclusions and host attestations | ||
| 3. Quality | Baseline, additionality and quantification | ||
| 3. Quality | Monitoring, permanence, leakage and safeguards | ||
| 4. Accounting | Host authorisation and authorised purpose | ||
| 4. Accounting | Adjustment status and double-counting controls | ||
| 5. Registry | Registry, project, methodology, vintage and serials | ||
| 5. Registry | Issuance, transfer and holder evidence | ||
| 6. Retirement | Serials, date, quantity and beneficiary | ||
| 6. Retirement | Recorded purpose and compliance-period link | ||
| 7. Claim | Inventory, reductions, credit role and exact wording | ||
| 7. Claim | Applicable rules, validation and assurance |
Different jobs
What each framework settles
No single institution owns every integrity question. The useful test is whether the framework answers the question in front of it.
| Framework or system | Main role | What it tests | What it does not settle |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICVCM and CCP | Supply-side integrity benchmark | Programme eligibility and category-level assessment | Project suitability, buyer use or claim credibility |
| VCMI Claims Code | Demand-side corporate use and claims | Company action, credit use, disclosure and assurance | Legal compliance everywhere or supply-side quality |
| Paris Agreement Article 6 | International cooperation and accounting | Authorisation, transfer and national accounting where applicable | Project quality or voluntary claim wording |
| CORSIA | International aviation compliance eligibility | Programme, unit, vintage, phase and exclusion rules | Suitability for unrelated voluntary claims |
| Registry record | Unit identity and transaction record | Issuance, ownership, transfer and retirement status | Additionality, climate impact or claim credibility by itself |
Dated source register
Current framework status
Status notes are deliberately brief. Open the official source before relying on a changing programme, category, registry or eligibility decision.
Programme and category assessment states, with the Council's warning that the process evolves over time.
The supply-side framework used for programme and credit-category assessments.
Current Claims Code and Monitoring, Reporting and Assurance Framework versions.
Registry design, interim arrangements, identifiers, account types, authorisation and unit use.
Official decisions, rules and implementation material for cooperative approaches and the Article 6.4 mechanism.
Official eligibility documents and the programme assessment route for each compliance phase.
Method and maintenance
A route, not a rating
The map separates intended use, eligibility, quality, accounting, registry evidence, retirement and claim wording because they are different tests. It does not score individual credits or turn a framework label into a recommendation.
Review monthly and after an ICVCM assessment, VCMI revision, UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) Article 6 decision, ICAO eligibility update, programme suspension, methodology revocation or material claims-law change.
Open the Carbon Market Intelligence Dashboard for dated market and implementation signals.
Know this subject well? Send evidence, corrections or a useful lead to hello@theplanetbrief.com.