WMBC RESPONSE TO US GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE ROLE OF VCMS
María Mendiluce
We Mean Business Coalition welcomes the US Government’s announcement of a new set of principles to guide engagement with voluntary carbon markets. Recognition that these tools have a substantive role to play, in both reducing and removing emissions and supporting global work to limit warming to 1.5C, is a vital sign that the debate over net zero goals is maturing.
The Coalition has long advocated for a new era of high integrity voluntary carbon markets to help advance corporate climate action and direct finance towards chronically underfunded and urgent climate priorities, such as the protection and restoration of nature and the global south. We know the window for action is closing, and no country or organisation can ignore tools that will accelerate climate action.
High-integrity carbon credits are not an alternative to direct decarbonization of value chains. They are an integral part of a Paris-aligned solution that encourages more investment to go to nature-based solutions and other sustainable development priorities in the short term, while companies work on scaling the technology and innovation needed to reduce their emissions in the long term.