ACR Selected for International Aviation’s New Carbon-Offset Plan

American Carbon Registry is one of only six agencies ICAO approves to supply offset credits for CORSIA compliance

March 31, 2020

ARLINGTON, VA  — The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has approved the American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, to supply eligible ACR-issued emission reduction units for compliance under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).

ACR is one of only six agencies ICAO approved and is the only program approved whose projects are accepted without limitations or exclusions to CORSIA-eligible offsets.

The CORSIA is a global market-based mechanism approved by ICAO in 2016 to achieve carbon neutral growth in international aviation starting in 2020; it’s expected to reduce or offset 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2-e through 2035.

The ICAO Council’s approval of programs to supply eligible emissions units for the CORSIA follows recommendations from the 19-member Technical Advisory Body (TAB),  which was established to evaluate programs’ compliance with Emissions Unit Criteria for offsetting requirements in the 2021-2023 pilot phase of CORSIA.

ACR’s program application for evaluation by the TAB, submitted on July 12, 2019, included all ACR activity types and methodologies currently approved and active for crediting emission reductions and removals.

ACR’s program application was approved for all scopes for activities, without limitations, for which the first crediting period began no earlier than January 1, 2016, for emissions reductions that occur through December 31, 2020. The list of all eligible emissions units and exclusions will soon be publicly available on the ICAO CORSIA website. 

“ACR appreciates the ICAO Council’s decision based on the rigorous assessment of programs undertaken by the TAB,” said Mary Grady of ACR. “The international aviation sector has made remarkable progress in a short amount of time on establishing a new global framework to reduce emissions and combat climate change. With this important milestone, we are ready to support implementation of the CORSIA.”

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ACR

Winrock has long recognized the threat posed by climate change. ACR, founded in 1996 and operated by Winrock, is dedicated to the belief that markets are the most effective tools to tackle climate change. As such, ACR has developed transparent and science-based methodologies to incentivize carbon reductions in agriculture, transportation and other industries. ACR is also a partner in assuring that California’s landmark Cap-and-Trade Program can manage, verify and credit carbon offsets effectively.