On 2 September 2026, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) recognised Version 5 of Verra's Verified Carbon Standard as meeting its Core Carbon Principles and approved 13 active VCS methodologies. On 28 September it added Verra's carbon capture and storage methodology, including modules for direct air capture and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
Together, the two decisions amount to a Verra CCP approval that extends the market's main quality label to a large share of the world's biggest carbon credit programme, and for the first time to some of its engineered, long-lasting removal methods. They do not mean every Verra credit now carries the label. This article explains what was approved, what the approvals do and do not change, and what buyers should do next.
- The ICVCM recognised VCS Version 5, released in December 2025 and fully operational from June 2026, as CCP-Eligible on 2 September 2026.
- It approved 13 methodologies active in the VCS Program, plus the VCS Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ Framework.
- On 28 September 2026 it approved VM0049, Verra's carbon capture and storage methodology, with modules for direct air capture, CO2 transport, CO2 storage and BECCS.
- A credit carries the CCP label only when its programme and its methodology are both approved and the project meets the eligibility conditions. Approval of a programme is not approval of every credit in it.
- The label is a quality signal for buyers. It does not make a product neutrality claim lawful in the EU, and it does not replace project-level due diligence.
- Why the CCP label exists
- What the ICVCM approved on 2 September
- What it approved on 28 September
- Verra's approvals across 2026
- CCP-Eligible versus CCP-Approved: the two-tick test
- What the decisions change for buyers
- What they change for project developers
- What they mean for removals and SBTi planning
- What the label does not do
- How to check a credit's status
- What to watch next
- Frequently asked questions
Why the CCP label exists
The voluntary carbon market spent several years under sustained criticism. Investigations into over-credited forest projects, questions about whether some renewable energy credits funded anything that would not have happened anyway, and inconsistent standards between programmes left buyers without a simple way to tell strong credits from weak ones.
The ICVCM was set up in 2021, following recommendations from the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, to fix that. It is an independent governance body that publishes a single set of quality principles and assesses programmes and methodologies against them. Its full Core Carbon Principles document set, covering the principles themselves, the assessment framework and the assessment procedure, was published in January 2024. The first methodology approvals followed later that year, and registries began tagging eligible credits with the label.
The idea is a common floor. A buyer does not need to become an expert in every methodology to know that a CCP-labelled credit has passed an independent test on additionality, permanence, conservative quantification, safeguards and avoiding double counting. That is why each new approval matters: every one widens the pool of credits that clear the floor.
What the ICVCM approved on 2 September
The ICVCM sets a global quality benchmark for carbon credits called the Core Carbon Principles (CCPs). It assesses crediting programmes and, separately, the methodologies those programmes use. Credits that pass both tests can carry the CCP label in the registry.
On 2 September 2026, the ICVCM announced that the latest version of Verra's programme, VCS Version 5, meets the CCP criteria. Verra released Version 5 in December 2025 and completed its operational rollout in June 2026, so the decision covers the rules that VCS projects now work under.
In the same announcement, the ICVCM approved 13 methodologies active in the VCS Program, along with the VCS Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ Framework. The approved methodologies span afforestation and other nature-based activities as well as a range of other project types.
Industry reporting since the decision credits Verra with more CCP-approved methodologies than any other crediting programme. For context, as of 12 August 2026 the ICVCM's assessment programme had approved 44 methodologies in total across all programmes, according to its published assessment status.
What it approved on 28 September
Four weeks later, on 28 September 2026, the ICVCM approved Verra's carbon capture and storage methodology, VM0049, together with its accompanying modules:
| Module | Covers |
|---|---|
| VMD0056 | Direct air capture (DAC) |
| VMD0057 | CO2 transport |
| VMD0058 | CO2 storage |
| VMD0059 | Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) |
This is the first time a technology-based carbon capture approach of this kind has been added to Verra's CCP-approved portfolio. In its announcement, Verra's chief executive, Mandy Rambharos, described carbon capture and storage as one of the most technically demanding approaches in the market, and the approval as confirmation that VM0049 meets the highest integrity bar.
The decision matters for a specific reason: engineered removals that store carbon geologically are exactly the kind of long-lasting removal that net-zero frameworks increasingly require. More on that below.
Verra's approvals across 2026
The September decisions sit on top of a year of approvals. Seen together, they show the label moving through the VCS Program methodology by methodology.
| Date | What was approved |
|---|---|
| 10 May 2026 | VMR0017, grid-connected electricity generation from renewable sources, and ACM0008 versions 6 to 8, abatement of methane from coal mines |
| 12 August 2026 | A rice cultivation methodology and VMR0016, the new standalone landfill gas methodology |
| 2 September 2026 | VCS Version 5 recognised as CCP-Eligible; 13 active methodologies and the Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ Framework approved |
| 28 September 2026 | VM0049 carbon capture and storage, with DAC, CO2 transport, CO2 storage and BECCS modules |
Several of these carry conditions worth knowing.
- Coal mine methane: only projects that capture and destroy, or use, coal mine methane or ventilation air methane can apply the label to their credits.
- Landfill gas: VMR0016 replaces two older methodologies, ACM0001 and AMS-III.G. It is linked to a new combined baseline and additionality tool, VT0009, which lets all landfill gas projects using it request CCP labels. Previously only landfill gas-to-electricity projects of 10 megawatts electrical or less could do so.
- Renewable energy: the approval of VMR0017 is notable because in 2024 the ICVCM had said several older renewable energy methodologies would not qualify, citing additionality concerns. The newer methodology was built to answer them.
CCP-Eligible versus CCP-Approved: the two-tick test
The most important detail in any ICVCM announcement is which tick it gives.
- CCP-Eligible applies to a programme. It means the programme's governance, registry, safeguards and rules meet the CCPs.
- CCP-Approved applies to a methodology, or a category of credits. It means the way projects measure and claim their results meets the CCPs.
Only credits from a CCP-Eligible programme, issued under a CCP-Approved methodology, can carry the CCP label, and the project must also meet any eligibility conditions attached to the approval. The ICVCM does not assess individual projects. Programmes are responsible for tagging the right credits in their registries, and the tag is what a buyer should look for.
So the 2 September decision gave Verra's latest programme rules the first tick, and approved a set of methodologies for the second. A credit issued under a VCS methodology that has not been approved, or by a project that does not meet the conditions, does not carry the label, whatever programme it sits in.
What the decisions change for buyers
A wider pool of labelled supply. With Verra's programme and a large set of its methodologies approved, more credits from the world's largest voluntary registry can carry the CCP label as projects are tagged. Buyers whose procurement policies require the label have more to choose from.
A sharper split in the market. Credits that can carry the label and credits that cannot are increasingly treated as different products. Buyers should expect the label to feature in procurement criteria, contracts and, over time, in how credits are priced, although the size of any price difference varies by project type and is not set by the label itself.
More questions about older issuances. Whether credits already issued, or issued under earlier methodology versions, can carry the label depends on the programme's tagging rules and the approval conditions. The registry tag on the specific credits is the answer, not the methodology's name.
Jurisdictional forest programmes in scope. The approval of the Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ Framework matters for forest protection at the scale of a state or country, where projects are nested within a jurisdiction's accounting. Buyers who moved away from project-level forest protection credits after earlier controversies now have an approved framework to assess.
What they change for project developers
For developers, the decisions turn methodology choice into a commercial decision as well as a technical one.
Version 5 is the baseline. The approval covers the latest version of the VCS Program rules. Developers still operating under older procedures need to understand what Version 5 requires of them, because the CCP label follows the current rules, not earlier ones.
Approved methodologies win buyers. Where a project type now has an approved methodology, credits issued under it, with the CCP tag, can reach buyers whose procurement policies require the label. Projects that stay on unapproved or superseded methodologies will find that market narrower.
Replacement methodologies change the path. The landfill gas decision is a clear example. VMR0016 replaces two older methodologies and links to a new combined baseline and additionality tool, VT0009, which lets all landfill gas projects using it request CCP labels rather than only small electricity projects. Developers on the older methodologies have a reason to plan a transition.
Conditions decide eligibility. Approval often comes with conditions. For coal mine methane, only projects that capture and destroy or use the methane qualify. Developers should read the conditions attached to their methodology's approval before promising buyers a labelled credit.
Tagging is a request, not automatic. Programmes tag credits in their registries according to their own procedures. Developers need to request and document eligibility for the label, and buyers will increasingly ask to see the tag before they sign.
What they mean for removals and SBTi planning
The 28 September approval of VM0049 and its DAC and BECCS modules lands at a useful moment.
Under the Science Based Targets initiative's Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, published on 11 June 2026, larger companies must support carbon removals from 2035, with a defined and rising share of long-lived removals, and all companies must neutralise residual emissions of long-lived greenhouse gases with long-lived removals at their net-zero year. Geological storage from direct air capture and BECCS is among the most durable removal there is.
A CCP-approved route for these removals gives buyers a recognised quality benchmark for the part of their portfolio that has to last for centuries. It does not create supply. Durable removal capacity remains small compared with the demand that 2035 and net-zero requirements imply, which is why some large buyers are already signing multi-year offtake agreements. Our guide to SBTi's Net-Zero Standard V2.0 explains the rules in full.
Size the requirement before you buy.
The Removals Planner shows how a company's requirement grows from 2035 and compares it with the removal supply recorded in registries so far.
What the label does not do
The CCP label answers one question: does this credit meet a recognised quality benchmark? It does not answer three others.
- It does not make a neutrality claim lawful. Since 27 September 2026, EU consumer law bans product claims of neutral, reduced or positive climate impact based on offsetting outside the product's value chain, regardless of credit quality. Our article on the EU's rules on carbon neutral claims covers what companies can still say.
- It does not settle double claiming. Whether a host country has authorised a credit under Article 6 and applied a corresponding adjustment is a separate question, and one that CORSIA and SBTi both ask.
- It does not replace due diligence. The ICVCM assesses programmes and methodologies, not projects. A project can sit under an approved methodology and still carry project-specific risks, from reversal exposure to questions about its own monitoring.
How to check a credit's status
- Look for the tag on the specific issuance in the programme's registry. That is the definitive answer for whether a credit carries the CCP label.
- Check the methodology's status. CRBN.credit's methodology pages show each methodology's projects, issuance, retirements and current ICVCM status.
- Check the project. Every project page among the Verra projects in the database carries a Credit Passport with the methodology's ICVCM status, a CORSIA screen, the host country's Article 6 position, hazard exposure and recorded buyers, each with its source and date.
- Check the retirement. If the credits support a claim, confirm they were retired for the company making it. Our guide to how carbon credit retirement works sets out the steps.
Signed-in CRBN.credit users can watch a methodology or project and receive an alert when its ICVCM status changes, and the terminal's "What changed" feed lists each new ICVCM decision as it lands.
Related reading. For Verra's place beside the other programmes, see how the major registries compare.
What to watch next
The ICVCM continues to publish decisions methodology by methodology, and Verra and other programmes continue to submit updated methodologies for assessment. Four things are worth tracking over the coming months.
- Tagging speed. How quickly registries tag eligible credits under the newly approved methodologies will decide how fast labelled supply actually reaches the market.
- More removal methodologies. VM0049 is one engineered route. Whether other durable removal approaches, such as enhanced weathering or biochar under various programmes, follow will shape the supply available for long-lived removal requirements.
- Contracts and policies. Expect procurement policies, offtake contracts and corporate claims guidance to reference the label explicitly.
- Interaction with Article 6. As host countries authorise more credits for international use, buyers will increasingly look for credits that carry both the CCP label and authorisation with a corresponding adjustment.
CRBN.credit provides data and research on carbon markets. It does not broker, sell or execute trades in carbon credits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the ICVCM approve on 2 September 2026?
It recognised Version 5 of Verra's Verified Carbon Standard as meeting the Core Carbon Principles, and approved 13 methodologies active in the VCS Program plus the VCS Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ Framework.
What did the ICVCM approve on 28 September 2026?
Verra's carbon capture and storage methodology, VM0049, with modules for direct air capture, CO2 transport, CO2 storage and BECCS.
Does this mean every Verra credit carries the CCP label?
No. Only credits issued under a CCP-Approved methodology, by projects that meet the approval's eligibility conditions, can carry the label, and the programme must tag them in its registry.
What is the difference between CCP-Eligible and CCP-Approved?
CCP-Eligible applies to a crediting programme. CCP-Approved applies to a methodology. A credit needs both, plus the project meeting any conditions, to carry the label.
How many methodologies has the ICVCM approved?
As of 12 August 2026, the ICVCM had approved 44 methodologies in total across all programmes, according to its assessment status. Further approvals, including VM0049, have followed.
Does a CCP label make a carbon neutral claim acceptable?
No. In the EU, product neutrality claims based on offsetting are banned from 27 September 2026 regardless of credit quality.
How can I check whether a specific credit carries the CCP label?
Look for the CCP tag on that issuance in the programme's registry. CRBN.credit's project pages also show the methodology's current ICVCM status.
Sources
- ICVCM, assessment status and decision announcements
- Verra, "Verra Secures ICVCM Approval for Carbon Capture and Storage Methodology" (28 September 2026)
- Verra, "Verra's Rice Cultivation and Landfill Gas Methodologies Receive ICVCM Approval" (12 August 2026)
- Verra, "Verra Secures ICVCM Approval for Renewable Energy and Mine Methane Methodologies" (10 May 2026)
- Carbon Credits, "Verra Wins ICVCM Approval for VCS Version 5" (September 2026)
- Green.earth, "The carbon market firms up its integrity standards" (September 2026)
A note on this article. This article reflects ICVCM and Verra announcements up to 1 October 2026. The ICVCM publishes decisions on a rolling basis, so check its assessment status for the latest position. It is general information, not investment advice.