• Newly released Criteria builds upon the U.S. government’s recent Joint Policy Statement to scale high-integrity solutions in the voluntary carbon market.
• The latest updates to the Criteria align the benchmarks for high-quality carbon dioxide removal with the latest scientific and policy advances.
• The 2024 edition also provides enhanced guidance for buyers and project developers on environmental harms and benefits.

Carbon Direct, in collaboration with Microsoft, today announced the release of the 2024 edition of the Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal. The 2024 edition advances the work done by Carbon Direct and Microsoft since the inaugural Criteria were introduced in 2021 to address the quality challenges in the voluntary carbon market through the development of rigorous, science-based standards for carbon dioxide removal projects. The Criteria are designed to provide carbon removal project developers with regularly updated guidance to ensure project quality, and to offer buyers of carbon removal credits a starting point for evaluating the quality of their carbon credits portfolios.

>> Read the 2024 Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal

“Since first publishing the Criteria in 2021, Microsoft and Carbon Direct have been on a mission to establish and share benchmarks that provide a roadmap for project developers to deliver high-quality tonnes, increase buyer confidence, and drive market demand for these critical climate mitigation tools,” said Jon Goldberg, CEO, Carbon Direct. “The 2024 edition of the Criteria continues to refine these benchmarks, aligning them with the latest scientific and policy knowledge to accelerate scale in the voluntary carbon market.”

The latest edition sets forth essential principles for high-quality carbon removal and advances the benchmarks for quality across both established and emerging carbon dioxide removal solutions represented in the voluntary carbon market, including direct air capture, reforestation, and biomass-based carbon removal. The 2024 edition provides updates across the six essential principles as well as each of the carbon removal methods.

• New guidance on environmental harms and benefits. Regardless of whether they are engineered, hybrid, or nature-based solutions, carbon projects are grounded in physical space and have an impact on the environment in which they occur. Although people and the environment are inextricably linked, it is essential to address environmental harms and benefits directly. The latest edition provides updated guidance for buyers and project developers with continued emphasis on environmental justice, procedural equity, and social harms and benefits.
• Clarification on carbon accounting and monitoring, reporting, and verification. The 2024 edition changes “Carbon accounting and monitoring, reporting, and verification” to “Measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification” to avoid confusion with corporate carbon accounting.

According to the most recent International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) synthesis report, over a billion tonnes of carbon removal per year will be required by 2030—and 5 to 10 billion tonnes will be required per year by 2050—to meet climate mitigation targets under the Paris Agreement. Today, only 0.008 billion tonnes of CO₂ are removed per year through high-quality carbon removals. With this gap in mind, actors across both public and private sectors are accelerating efforts to scale high-quality carbon removal.

• In the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) have resulted in substantial new investment and innovation in carbon removal.
• In May 2024, the US federal government also took critical steps to improve the quality of available credits when the White House announced the Voluntary Carbon Markets Joint Policy Statement and Principles.
• Companies like Microsoft are engaging in forward offtake of high-quality carbon projects across nature-based, hybrid, and engineered pathways, signaling clear demand for these tonnes.

“The science-based criteria provide widely applicable quality benchmarks for project developers to design and develop effective carbon dioxide removal projects,” said Katie Sierks, Microsoft CDR Science and Quality Lead. “For carbon removal purchasers, including Microsoft, these benchmarks provide specific guidance for evaluating projects and help build trust in voluntary carbon market quality.”

Carbon Direct and Microsoft will continue to collaboratively refine this guidance over the coming years. In subsequent iterations, the companies expect to develop additional guidance for nascent carbon removal pathways, potentially including peatland and freshwater wetland restoration, carbon dioxide utilization, and marine carbon removal pathways like ocean alkalinity enhancement.

To read the blog from Carbon Direct, visit:

https://www.carbon-direct.com/insights/2024-criteria-for-high-quality-carbon-dioxide-removal

To read the Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal, visit:

https://www.carbon-direct.com/research-and-reports/criteria-for-high-quality-carbon-dioxide-removal

About Carbon Direct

Carbon Direct helps organizations go from climate goal to climate action. We combine technology with deep expertise in climate science, policy, and carbon markets to deliver carbon emission footprints, actionable reduction strategies, and high-quality carbon dioxide removal. With Carbon Direct, clients can set and equitably deliver on their climate commitments, streamline compliance, and manage risk through transparency and scientific credibility.

Our expertise is trusted by global climate leaders including Microsoft, American Express, and Alaska Airlines, as well as by the World Economic Forum, which selected Carbon Direct as an Implementation Partner for the First Movers Coalition. To learn more, visit www.carbon-direct.com.

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