The independent non-profit, which works to establish and maintain global standards for voluntary carbon markets, will be partnering the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) for its new Asia Pacific hub.
ICVCM said it would look to foster high integrity solutions that are relevant to the Asia Pacific region; such as transition credits from the early decommission of coal-fired power plants.
In an interview with Eco-Business, ICVCM’s Bonn-based CEO Amy Merrill also said that it would look into carbon crediting methodologies that are suited to the region’s peatlands.
“In Asean, we’re going to be working with governments, domestic crediting programs who want to talk to us about how our Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) work, and supporting developers to find and identify what methodologies suit them,” she said.
Carbon credit methodologies, which are a set of sector and project-specific rules for carbon projects, are developed by carbon project verifiers such as Verra and Gold Standard. ICVCM primarily works on assessing these methodologies and deciding if they are of high quality using the CCP’s ten fundamental, science-based principles.
It has been gradually awarding the CCP stamp of approval to methodologies across different types of projects, including biochar, improved forest management and reforestatioin, clean cookstoves and most recently, engineered carbon dioxide removals.
ICVCM said that it aims to support a “thriving, interoperable high integrity carbon market across the Asia Pacific region” through its new office. The organisation counts about 40 staff, excluding its expert panel and governing board, all of whom have been working fully remotely.
“We’re really excited to be setting up here because of the just the level of ambition and speed and just being able to keep pace with supporting governments as they create their regional hubs and domestic systems [to operationalise carbon trading],” Merrill told Eco-Business.
ICVCM will also continue working with Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat on the Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets, an initiative by the governments of Singapore, Kenya and the United Kingdom to boost voluntary demand for carbon credits.
Among Asia Pacific countries, Singapore has signed some of the largest number of bilateral agreements for carbon trade under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which allows for countries to collaborate to achieve their climate targets through the international carbon markets. Singapore has signed implementation agreements (IAs) with countries including Peru, Ghana, and most recently, Thailand.
Southeast Asia’s carbon markets have been in the doldrums for over a year, affected by political changes and deforestation risk maps. Local standards and methodologies, such as Thailand’s Voluntary Emission Reduction Programme (T-VER) have yet to galavanise market activity.
Carbon project developers in the region have also clashed with Indigenous Peoples and local communities over land rights and a failure to secure free, prior and informed consent. Merrill highlighted that engagement with Indigenous communities is central to ICVCM’s work, particularly through its engagement forum for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
“One of the things we’re working on is…what skills validators and verifiers will need to understand human rights issues. It is core to our work – it’s a core principle, not a co-benefit,” she said.