The carbon credit market is changing rapidly. More and more organizations are demanding proof that their investments in CO₂ reduction projects are actually making an impact. Therefore, new international quality criteria have been established: the Core Carbon Principles (CCP). At FairClimateFund, we embrace this development and are working hard to adapt our projects to this new standard. This ensures our carbon credits remain reliable and socially just.
What are the Core Carbon Principles?
The Core Carbon Principles (CCP) are new, stricter quality criteria developed by the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC-VCM) to improve the integrity of carbon credits, particularly for cookstove projects. These principles impose higher standards on how emission reductions are measured and calculated, with a strong focus on reliability and conservative calculation methods to prevent over-crediting. The CCP assess methodologies from standards such as Verra and Gold Standard and award a quality label to projects that meet these strict requirements.
Although no registered cookstove project yet fully complies with the CCP requirements, FairClimateFund emphasizes the importance of these new guidelines and is actively working to adapt its projects to comply. This demonstrates our commitment to providing transparent, reliable, and socially responsible climate solutions. The Core Carbon Principles aim to provide buyers with greater certainty about the actual impact of their investment and strengthen the credibility of the voluntary carbon market.
“We welcome the CCP criteria,” says Neera van der Geest, director of FairClimateFund. “They bring greater transparency to the market and confirm the importance of combining measurable CO₂ reductions with sustainable development. This is precisely what we have been committed to since our founding.”
Why are the Core Carbon Principles important for cookstove projects?
In 2023, a major study from the University of California, Berkeley, published in Nature Sustainability, caused a stir in the voluntary carbon offset market. The study focused on recognized standards such as Verra and Gold Standard and questioned the accuracy with which cookstove projects calculate their carbon emission reductions. Cookstove projects offer poor households access to cleaner cooking technologies and are often praised for their positive effects on both climate and health. However, the study showed that commonly used methodologies likely overestimate emission reductions, increasing the risk of over-crediting.
FairClimateFund felt directly inspired by this. We have been collaborating for years with several cookstove projects that the Berkeley team deemed exemplary. Nevertheless, we recognized the need for further improvement. In our detailed response, we emphasized that criticism focuses primarily on the quantification of CO₂ reductions, while the broader social and sustainable impact of projects plays an equally important role. Our approach therefore combines strict quality standards with a clear focus on benefit sharing and strengthening communities, for example, through the Fairtrade Climate Standard.
Implementing Core Carbon Principles for FairClimateFund
At FairClimateFund, we applaud the growing attention to the integrity of carbon credits. It’s not just a matter of measuring, but of measuring reliably and conservatively, while recognizing the risk of overestimation. Moreover, the social impact of projects, which is our core mission, remains just as important.
With this vision in mind, FairClimateFund took the first steps to make our projects CCP-proof as early as 2024. For example, our project in Rwanda is one of the first in the world to be registered with the approved Gold Standard Metered & Measured Methodology and is participating in a Gold Standard pilot for digital Monitoring, Reporting & Verification (dMRV). Furthermore, in our projects in Burkina Faso and India, we have voluntarily commissioned additional tests (Baseline and Kitchen Performance Tests) to increase the reliability of fuel consumption and emissions calculations, although this is not yet mandatory according to the methodologies.
For our projects in other countries such as Chad, Kenya, Uganda, and Indonesia, a clear step-by-step plan is in place to meet the CCP requirements within the coming years.
The impact of the Core Carbon Principles on emission calculations and project costs
The strict requirements of CCP lead to a more conservative approach to emission calculations. One example is the fraction of non-renewable biomass, a key variable in determining emission reductions. The old methods based on national statistics proved insufficiently reliable and led to overestimations.
The new fNRB values used, based on advanced models, are generally lower and lead to a lower calculated emission reduction, meaning the same project receives fewer credits. The emission factor for charcoal, where the conversion of fuelwood to charcoal per kilo can vary significantly, will now be determined conservatively, which also results in fewer credits being awarded.
This conservative calculation method significantly increases the cost per carbon credit. Abatable’s analysis shows that the cost of high-quality cooking solutions can reach around USD 39 per ton of CO₂, while basic cookstoves cost around USD 15 per ton of CO₂. Both are significantly higher than current market prices.
This poses a challenge, especially because it puts financial pressure on the more expensive, cleaner cooking technologies that have the greatest health and climate impacts. Moreover, rural projects are often more expensive, and additional social and ecological activities such as training, community development, and landscape restoration are not included in these cost analyses.
Call for fair pricing
It’s clear that the new CCP criteria strengthen the integrity of the carbon market, but also put pressure on the feasibility of projects due to rising costs and stricter requirements. FairClimateFund acknowledges this tension but emphasizes the importance of not compromising on quality.
We believe that clean cooking solutions can only be sustainably financed with a fair price for carbon credits. This means that buyers must accept the true cost and be willing to pay a price between €30 and €40 per ton of CO₂. For comparison, the price of emission rights within the EU has ranged between €60 and €100 per ton of CO₂ over the past five years. This puts the asking price for high-quality carbon credits from cookstove projects into perspective.
This fair price not only allows us to meet the new, stricter requirements for emission calculations, but also to safeguard and further develop the social impact that FairClimateFund is so committed to.
Conclusion: FairClimateFund stands for fair and reliable CO₂ reduction
FairClimateFund advocates for a climate market where integrity, reliability, and social impact go hand in hand. We embrace the Core Carbon Principles as a necessary step forward in quality assurance for carbon credits, particularly within the cookstove sector.
While meeting the CCP requirements is a complex and lengthy transition, we are actively working to ensure all our projects meet these new standards. Our mission remains central: improving the living conditions of vulnerable people by providing clean cooking solutions that combine climate and social benefits.
We urge carbon credit buyers to take responsibility and pay the true cost of these high-quality credits. Only then can a fair and sustainable market emerge that strikes the right balance between ambitious climate goals and social progress.
FairClimateFund continues to set the bar high, dares to be critical, and strives for climate action that has impact, is transparent, reliable, and respectful of people and the planet.
Want to learn more about our approach or invest in high-quality carbon credits in accordance with the Core Carbon Principles? Contact us.
