Strategic Climate Contribution / BVCM

Beyond Value Chain Contribution

Financing the global transition to Net Zero by taking responsibility for today’s emissions—above and beyond your own decarbonisation efforts.

Reducing emissions must always be the primary focus. However, the 1.5°C goal cannot be met by internal cuts alone. Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM) is a critical mechanism to bridge the global “emissions gap” by funding high-impact climate action outside your operations.”

The Urgent Need for Action

The Global Coal Challenge

Despite international commitments, fossil fuel expansion continues at pace. Private-sector contribution is essential to close the finance gap.

Operational coal-fired power plants, 2025

2,400
plants worldwide — 2,175 GW combined capacity
Despite the Paris Climate Agreement signed in 2015, there are still 290+ gigawatts of new coal capacity in the development pipeline—ten years later.

The energy transition is not happening fast enough.

In 2024, new coal capacity outpaced retirements by nearly 19 GW. Governments alone cannot bridge this finance gap—private sector contribution is essential to displace fossil fuel infrastructure with renewable alternatives.

96% of new coal proposals are concentrated in Asia, where the cost of capital for renewables remains high.

Global Coal Dynamics 2024–2025

New commissions 44 GW
Retirements 25.2 GW

Source: Global Energy Monitor (GEM) 2025 Data.

Take Action Now

There has never been a more important time.

High-integrity carbon credits are one mechanism to facilitate much-needed finance, helping decarbonise developing countries and ending the construction of coal-fired power plants.

High-Integrity Standards / Frameworks

Built on High-Integrity Standards

Select any standard to read the detail behind our quality framework.

DEFRA
‘Good Quality’ Criteria

Quality-assured credits verified by the ICVCM.

Read criteria →
Gold Standard
for the Global Goals

Verified impact and SDG co-benefit contributions.

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SBTi
BVCM Guidance

Aligning with “Above and Beyond” reports.

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Oxford
Removal Principles

Transitioning to durable storage by 2050.

Read criteria →
The Right Approach to BVCM

The Right Approach to BVCM

Using carbon credits responsibly means following a clear hierarchy of climate action.

Step 01

Reduce First

Set science-based targets and aggressively reduce emissions across your entire value chain. This is always the primary priority.

Step 02

Neutralise Residual

For emissions you cannot yet eliminate, use high-quality carbon credits to balance your residual footprint during the transition.

Step 03

Go Beyond

Support additional climate action beyond your value chain to drive global decarbonisation and finance the just transition.

Key Principles

  • BVCM is in addition to, not instead of, your own emission reductions
  • Only use high-integrity credits verified by credible third-party standards (Gold Standard, VCS)
  • Be transparent about your use of carbon credits and your decarbonisation progress
  • Prioritise projects that deliver genuine co-benefits to communities and ecosystems
Expert Voices / Institutional endorsements

What the Experts Say

Leading climate organisations worldwide recognise the critical role of high-integrity carbon credits in accelerating the global transition to net zero.

“High-integrity carbon credits are one mechanism to facilitate much-needed financial support towards decarbonizing developing countries… Businesses meeting their interim targets on their net zero pathway are strongly encouraged to balance out the rest of their annual unabated emissions by purchasing high-integrity carbon credits.”
United Nations High-Level Expert Group on Net Zero Commitments
“SBTi strongly recommends that companies go above and beyond their science-based targets to invest in mitigation beyond their value chains. This is because there is still a significant number of companies without science-based targets, there are important sources of emissions outside corporate value chains, and government policies are not yet sufficiently ambitious to deliver a 1.5°C future.”
Science Based Targets initiative
“Financial flows are needed from developed to developing countries to rapidly scale up global investment in low-carbon solutions. In this context, carbon offsets—whether used to make voluntary emissions reduction claims or to contribute to wider global efforts—are one mechanism to facilitate much-needed financial support towards emissions reductions.”
The Climate Change Committee
“High-integrity carbon credits can unlock urgently-needed finance that would not otherwise be available to reduce and remove billions of tons of emissions that would not otherwise happen, particularly in emerging markets.”
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market
“Companies are strongly encouraged to compensate for a share of unabated emissions annually during the transition to net-zero through the purchase and retirement of carbon credits generated under credible third-party standards.”
Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets
“The use of high-quality carbon credits by companies—above and beyond their decarbonization efforts—is a potentially significant way to accelerate climate change mitigation and drive additional finance into low and middle income countries, which likely will suffer the greatest climate harms.”
The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity (VCMI) Initiative
Next step / Build your portfolio

Don’t just offset. Contribute.

Mitigate regulatory risk and lead the climate transition with transparent, contribution-based portfolios that prioritise global impact.

High-Quality Only

Gold Standard & VCS verified credits meeting DEFRA’s ‘good quality’ criteria.

Real Impact

Supporting renewable energy and sustainable development in emerging economies.

Full Transparency

Complete documentation and registry links for every credit retired.