The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has approved two new carbon crediting programmes as eligible under the Carbon Offseting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL), both World Bank programmes, have been added to the approved list for CORSIA’s First Phase following the latest recommendations from CORSIA’s Technical Advisory Body (TAB).
The TAB’s position on national carbon registries established under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.2 are also set out in the recommendations. National registries that simply mirror data from CORSIA-approved programme registries are considered broadly acceptable. However, national registries where units are physically transferred from eligible programme registries will likely require greater scrutiny of their processes by the TAB before being approved.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed EU-specific criteria for CORSIA-eligible units used by European airlines. Its proposal, which is early stage and subject to further consultation, would exclude High Forest Low Deforestation (HFLD) credits, certain cookstove credits, and insert specific provisions around first transfer within a Letter of Authorisation.
For CORSIA’s Second Phase, only Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) units, or credits from programmes demonstrably aligned with PACM standards, would qualify under the Commission’s proposal. Its own estimate – that 90-100% of currently eligible supply would be excluded for EU airlines under First Phase criteria – points to a significant supply constraint for European carriers if this direction holds.
Abatable’s angle
While a positive development for CORSIA, the newly approved supply is more limited than headline registry figures suggest. The FCPF registry currently lists 15 projects, but only seven have issued credits that could become eligible today, totalling 41.3mn tonnes.
This is more than double the volume of CORSIA eligible emissions units (EEUs) currently on registries, however none of this volume holds a government Letter of Authorisation or Corresponding Adjustment – requirements for CORSIA – so whether it would have a material supply impact remains to be seen.
Of the host countries with FCPF projects, Ghana, Laos, and Madagascar score highest on Abatable’s Article 6 readiness index, making them the most plausible near-term sources of authorised volume. ISFL’s three projects remain under development with no issued volume, meaning they are some way away from contributing CORSIA-eligible supply.
If authorised, these volumes would bring meaningful portfolio diversification. Current EEU supply is heavily skewed: the majority of projects by number are cookstoves, but the dominant source of units by volume is Guyana’s ART TREES programme. FCPF volumes would therefore allow airlines to broaden the composition of their offset portfolios, an approach some may take as a risk mitigation opportunity.
On TAB’s clarifications on national registries, the most immediate impact falls on several developers in Zimbabwe, who have cancelled their issued units on Gold Standard and transferred to the Zimbabwean national registry launched last year. This volume was then reissued on the Zimbabwean registry, given a unique serial number, and granted an authorisation for use towards CORSIA.
TAB’s guidance means work must be done to ensure the integration and processes of tracking unit cancellation, transfer and issuance before these units can become EEUs. More broadly, as governments develop national registries to track carbon units for Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and Article 6 accounting, these new guidelines may influence the technical approach they take to registry design.
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