Treatment of Temporary GHG Removals in Voluntary Carbon Markets

This report was prepared to complement a workshop of experts including those involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the private sector Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market and diverse academics at the University of Cambridge in February 2024, which initiated work on a framework aiming to comprehensively address permanence within voluntary carbon markets (VCMs). It provided early contextualisation to clarify common misconceptions—particularly around physical equivalence—and helped establish a shared understanding that enabled workshop leaders to reconcile diverse perspectives and foster a cohesive, productive dialogue. The report serves a dual purpose: firstly, to give a broad introduction to the issue of permanence and to present associated considerations and, secondly, to provide a non-exhaustive summary of suggested approaches for the accounting treatment of permanence in recent academic literature. The discussion at the workshop was primarily concerned with practical challenges and scalability of different approaches to permanence. By delineating some of the relevant academic discourse, this report hopes to allow for further informed discussion and to create a shared basis of understanding for the issue at expert group meetings going forward. Academic approaches provide a critical backdrop, against which practical solutions can be evaluated, ensuring that efforts are scientifically grounded.