IC-VCM releases integrity requirements for digital MRV in voluntary carbon markets

**IC-VCM & Registry Updates Shape Integrity Agenda.** The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (IC-VCM) published a [new report on digital Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (dMRV)](https://icvcm.org/new-report-explores-integrity-requirements-for-digital-monitoring-reporting-and-verification-dmrv/), outlining integrity requirements that could reshape how nature-based and technology-based credits — including REDD+, ARR and removal methodologies — are monitored and verified. With buyer demand increasingly contingent on quality assurance, the dMRV framework may accelerate a premium for credits that adopt remote sensing and IoT-enabled verification. Separately, [Verra opened a fresh tranche of VCS projects for public comment](https://verra.org/projects-open-for-public-comment-september-21-2026/), signalling continued pipeline activity on the world's largest voluntary registry even as scrutiny of methodology rigour remains elevated. **Article 6 Momentum in the Global South.** Guinea-Bissau and Niger are both [integrating Article 6 cooperative approaches into their updated Nationally Determined Contributions](https://carbon-pulse.com/553978/), aiming to mobilise international carbon finance for mitigation activities. This is a meaningful supply-side signal: West African jurisdictions could channel new REDD+ and cookstove credits through bilateral Article 6.2 agreements, adding volume to a market where demand from CORSIA-eligible buyers and corporates is growing. Meanwhile, Mexico is [finalising the offset and free-allowance architecture](https://carbon-pulse.com/553968/) for the compliance phase of its ETS targeted for 2027, a design choice that will directly affect how VCM credits are absorbed into compliance settings in Latin America. **CCS Policy Breakthroughs and Compliance Market Pressure.** Austria's move to [lift its 15-year ban on geological CO2 storage](https://carbon-pulse.com/554050/) opens a potential European CCS corridor and could eventually support engineered-removal credit supply under standards like Puro.earth and Verra's new removal methodologies. On the compliance side, European steelmakers warn that [carbon costs could quadruple by 2031](https://carbon-pulse.com/553549/) if the phase-out of free ETS allowances is not moderated — a dynamic that may push heavy industry to explore VCM removals as a hedging or transition tool. **Corporate Scope 3 Accountability and Market Credibility.** Fonterra's annual report revealed that [Scope 3 emissions gains entirely cancelled Scope 1 reductions](https://carbon-pulse.com/554012/), underscoring the growing scrutiny of value-chain emissions and the relevance of high-integrity offsets for agricultural supply chains. At Climate Week New York, a [new non-profit launched to improve CO2 comparability](https://carbon-pulse.com/553952/) across climate solutions, a development that could influence how buyers evaluate credit-type spreads between avoidance and removal categories. In the compliance arena, modelling shows a linked [Washington-California-Quebec carbon market would deliver cost savings through 2037](https://carbon-pulse.com/553956/), a positive signal for North American market integration. New Zealand confirmed that [forestry will remain within the NZ ETS](https://carbon-pulse.com/554022/), though the government earlier [paused work on a border carbon adjustment](https://carbon-pulse.com/554004/), reflecting continued policy uncertainty in the Pacific region.