Most rules in the carbon market are about the credits. The VCMI Claims Code is about the company that buys them: what it has to do on its own emissions before it may say anything about credits, and what it may say once it has. Version 3.2, published in September 2026, also tightens which credits count.
The VCMI Claims Code of Practice sets out how companies can credibly claim the use of carbon credits on top of their own emission reductions. It requires four Foundational Criteria, sets three claim tiers based on the share of remaining emissions covered, and defines which credits qualify. This article explains the requirements, the thresholds, what changed in 2026 and how VCMI claims relate to EU consumer law.
Who the VCMI is
The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) works on the demand side of the voluntary market: how companies use credits and what they claim. The quality of the credits themselves is benchmarked by the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles. Science-based target setting is SBTi’s territory; the VCMI builds on it by requiring a science-aligned target before any claim.
Step one: the Foundational Criteria
Before a company can make any Carbon Integrity claim, it has to meet four Foundational Criteria:
Maintain and publicly disclose an annual greenhouse gas inventory.
Set and disclose science-aligned near-term emission reduction targets, consistent with reaching net zero by 2050.
Show that it is making progress towards those targets, through finance, governance and strategy.
Show that its public policy advocacy supports the goals of the Paris Agreement.
On top of that, a company must demonstrate progress towards its near-term targets. Carbon credits cannot count towards targets within the value chain; the claim is about what the company does beyond them.
The claim tiers: Silver, Gold and Platinum
Once the criteria are met, the tier depends on how much of the company’s remaining emissions (the emissions left after reductions so far) it covers with high-quality credits that it buys and retires (VCMI Claims Code):
Claim | Credits purchased and retired, as share of remaining emissions | Extra condition |
|---|---|---|
Carbon Integrity Silver | at least 10% and less than 50% | share must increase every year |
Carbon Integrity Gold | at least 50% and less than 100% | share must increase every year |
Carbon Integrity Platinum | 100% or more |
For a company with 2,000 tonnes of remaining emissions, Silver starts at 200 tonnes of retired high-quality credits a year, Gold at 1,000 and Platinum at 2,000. Our guide to how many carbon credits you need shows how to calculate the base.
Which credits count: CCP-labelled from 2027
The Code defines high-quality credits as credits that carry the ICVCM’s CCP label, or Article 6.4 credits issued under methodologies approved by the UN Supervisory Body (Article 6 explained).
Because labelled credits are still in limited supply, version 3.2 keeps two interim options for demonstrating quality, but only until 1 January 2027. After that date, all credits retired for a VCMI claim must be CCP-labelled or Article 6.4 credits. Credits from methodologies the ICVCM has rejected cannot be used at all.
For buyers planning purchases for 2027 claims, that is the practical change: check the CCP label in the registry now, not next year.
Tip from Bernard de Wit, Founder of Regreener: “If a VCMI claim is part of your 2027 plans, put the CCP label in your procurement criteria today. Labelled supply is growing but not unlimited, and the companies that wait until December will be buying from what is left.”
Assurance and reporting: the MRA Framework
Claims have to be backed by public reporting and independent assurance. The VCMI’s Monitoring, Reporting and Assurance (MRA) Framework, updated in September 2026, sets out what to disclose: the inventory, targets and progress, the credits retired with their registry evidence, and the claim made, all checked by a third party.
Version 3.2 also states that, at this point, VCMI is not issuing Carbon Integrity Claims itself, while encouraging companies to follow the Code as best practice. In practice, companies apply the Code and its assurance rules to their own reporting.
The Scope 3 Action Code
A companion code covers companies that are on track with their validated scope 1 and 2 targets but behind on scope 3. They may retire high-quality credits to cover their scope 3 emissions gap, capped at 25% of their scope 3 trajectory, and must close that gap with real reductions by 2040. The details are in Scope 3 and carbon credits.
VCMI claims and EU consumer law
A VCMI claim describes credits used on top of reductions, which is close to what is usually called a contribution claim. The Code is voluntary, though, and gives no legal protection. Since 27 September 2026, EU consumer law bans product claims of carbon neutrality based on offsetting and restricts generic environmental claims (EmpCo carbon neutral claim ban).
Two practical consequences:
Use VCMI tier names mainly in sustainability reporting, investor and B2B communication, where the audience can read the conditions behind them.
Towards consumers, describe what you actually did: the reductions achieved, the credits retired, the projects financed, with evidence. Our guide to contribution claims gives wording, and the free EmpCo Claim Checker tests a sentence against the rules.
“The VCMI Code is useful even if you never make a formal claim. It forces the right order: inventory, target, progress, then credits. Companies that follow it end up with a climate story that survives scrutiny, whatever tier they reach.”
Bernard de Wit, Founder of Regreener
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