Verified Carbon Credit Oversight Taskforce

Providing expert advice and a dedicated forum for cross-sectoral debate on the future of governance across markets for verified carbon credits.

Raki_Man, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Verified Carbon Credit Oversight Taskforce fosters dialogue on governance across markets for verified carbon credits. It convenes as markets for verified carbon credits are undergoing significant change. In 2025 we saw a 25% decrease in transaction volumes as credit integrity came under scrutiny following a series of corruption scandals, coinciding with an ‘ongoing reboot of the supply side’ as new compliance and quasi-compliance markets for verified carbon credits develop. As institutions restructure in preparation for a new phase of growth, questions of governance and scale have come to the fore at the same time as mechanisms such as the International Carbon Reduction and Offsetting Alliance (ICROA) are winding down.

These debates take place across an institutional landscape complicated by an array of fragmented industry initiatives and inconsistent safeguards for investors and communities. RUSI research since 2024 has found that gaps in market governance have contributed at times to a lack of confidence from investors. In the current landscape, regulated financial institutions may struggle to meet compliance hurdles, while traded marketplaces cannot guarantee the integrity of the credits being traded. Climate campaigners worry that emissions impacts are not accurately accounted, and governments are concerned about the potential for the market to serve as a vehicle for illicit finance.

Raki_Man, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Aims and objectives

To address some of these questions and investigate feasible solutions, RUSI is convening the Verified Carbon Credit Oversight Taskforce. The objective is to examine the feasibility and desirability of a global market association that could leverage scale and contractual membership obligations to enforce best practice and standardisation, facilitate whistleblowing and legal redress, and create a network of trusted traders and investors. As the market continues to shift, the importance of informed debates over market governance options is growing, not only for market credibility, but for investor confidence, economic resilience and climate security.

The purpose of this taskforce is to:

Provide a secure and neutral environment for expert debate and dialogue.
Identify institutional gaps that create the biggest integrity vulnerabilities and prevent investment at scale.
Identify case studies from other industries that might serve as models.
Explore potential governance arrangements that draw on lessons from other industries, discussing limitations and opportunities.
Identify necessary stakeholders and proposed next steps for any governance concept that emerges from the meetings.

Project Partners

This Taskforce is part of the Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI ACE) programme which is hosted by the Centre for the Study of Corruption, University of Sussex and funded by UK International Development from the UK government. GI ACE generates actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives.

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.

This is not an all-inclusive list of taskforce members.