Statement from ACR and ART on Mary Grady’s appointment to the ICVCM board
Mary Grady, the Executive Director of ACR and the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), has been appointed to the governing board of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM).
ICVCM is an independent body setting thresholds for the voluntary carbon market, which is working to promote positive, scalable climate impact. The ICVCM board of directors is responsible for guiding the organization’s strategic direction, providing oversight, and making key decisions.
ACR and ART share ICVCM’s theory of change: “build integrity and scale will follow.” We will not meet the goals of the Paris Agreement without robust global carbon markets, so our collective work is central to our shared future on this planet.
On behalf of ACR and ART, Mary represents decades of experience with multiple project types in both voluntary and compliance markets and is also one of the world’s leading experts on jurisdictional approaches to carbon crediting.
Mary thanked the current ICVCM board members and leadership team for entrusting her with this important role, saying that she looks forward to working with this distinguished group during a critical point in ICVCM’s development.
“With the Core Carbon Principles launched, attention is now on providing additional clarity about the process moving forward, as well as how the initiative will operationalize high-level principles in a consistent and transparent fashion. I look forward to continuing to provide practical and actionable input to help harmonize global standards and support successful implementation,” she said.
“I will do my best to bring ACR and ART’s perspectives as organizations that implement carbon standards and manage associated market infrastructure. And I will represent the perspectives of investors and proponents of GHG projects and jurisdictional programs, who understand the real-world implications of the technical and policy choices being evaluated by ICVCM,” Mary added.
Annette Nazareth, Chair of the ICVCM Governing Board, said, “We are delighted to welcome Mary Grady as a member of our governing board. Mary brings a wealth of experience and expertise from her work with the UNFCCC, on Natural Climate Solutions as well as in the renewable energy sector. We look forward to her valuable contributions to this important phase of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s work. Our global benchmark for high integrity aims to enhance trust in the voluntary carbon market and introduce greater consistency. Our governing board’s oversight is critical to supporting the delivery of CCP labelled credits into the market to unlock much-needed private sector investment in climate solutions which would otherwise not be viable, and accelerate flows of finance to countries in the Global South to support the growth of vibrant green economies.”
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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.