Building integrity at the heart of the voluntary carbon market

Helping launch the Core Carbon Principles rulebook

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market is a non-profit, independent governance body that aims to set and maintain a global standard for high integrity in the voluntary carbon market, unlocking private climate and carbon finance that would not otherwise be deployed.

It was set up in 2021 in response to the final recommendations of the Taskforce on Scaling the Voluntary Carbon Markets, an initiative backed by more than 250 organisations.

Results and impact:

Building integrity at the heart of the voluntary carbon market

Challenge: lack of trust in the voluntary carbon market

The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) has the potential to unlock additional finance for activities that reduce or remove billions of tonnes of carbon emissions. However, projects that lack high-integrity have historically eroded trust in the VCM, resulting in negative perceptions from stakeholders and in the media.

Solution: developing the Core Carbon Principles that demonstrate real, verifiable climate impact

We supported the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) to launch its full Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) rulebook and assessment framework, setting out criteria for high-quality carbon credits that create real, verifiable climate impact. Greenhouse delivered a global media and digital campaign, with a highly targeted engagement strategy to enable top tier journalists to develop informed and detailed articles.

Results: securing top tier media interviews and spiking engagement across social media

Set up 13 interviews between ICVCM spokespeople and top tier media (FT, Guardian, Reuters, Bloomberg). Secured 41 articles reaching 604K people globally. Significant engagement across social channels, with 140 new newsletter subscribers, over 28K organic impressions on social media and nearly 20K visits to the website. 

Impact: high levels of engagement from influencers, stakeholders and programs

Raised awareness of the CCPs, leading to high-levels of engagement from influencers and stakeholders across the VCM. 

Engagement from major programs including Gold Standard applying for assessment and Verra announcing updates to their program documents in line with key CCP criteria. Support from governments and initiatives around the world, all interested in incorporating the CCPs in their own frameworks.

What we did

Social assets

Designed ready-to-use resources and assets in six languages to highlight the potential impacts of the Core Carbon Principles rulebook. 

Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified Mandarin, Bahasa Indonesia

Communications toolkit for stakeholders

Newsletter

Greenhouse designed a dedicated newsletter to inform subscribers of the launch of the Core Carbon Principles rulebook.

This edition of the newsletter had a 48% open rate and following the announcement it received 140 new subscribers.

Media coverage

Top stories included…

Reuters: Global standards launched to grow $2 billion voluntary carbon market

Politico US: Carbon market’s crunch time

S&P Global: Voluntary carbon market players hope new quality guidance will boost liquidity

What our clients say:

“Greenhouse is an agency with true integrity, offering real understanding of the voluntary carbon market, first rate comms skills, experience and strong networks. The team are collaborative and tenacious, and through their support our spokespeople are regularly consulted by leading outlets.”

Tara Burke – Communications Director, ICVCM