ICR Program Advisory Panel v3.2
Summary
The Program Advisory Panel is an independent board of technical experts providing guidance to the ICR Board to support their governance of the ICR program elements
Version no.
3.2
Date of Version
6. March 2026
Introduction
The International Carbon Registry (ICR) is a voluntary climate action initiative promoting effectiveness in climate financing while safeguarding environmental integrity. ICR sets out requirements for climate action projects and delivers a platform for the registration and issuance of tradable carbon credits, allowing organizations to offset or directly list carbon credits for sale on an exchange in a transparent and publicly accessible manner.
The purpose of this document is to structure how technical input from the ICR Program Advisory Panel (PAP) members is captured and delivered to the ICR Board, specify what task to provide, govern the structure of work, and set competence criteria for members of the PAP.
Figure 1: Organizational chart
ICR Program Advisory Panel
The PAP is a group of technical experts on climate solutions and carbon markets who provide recommendations to the ICR Board regarding program development, including the methodology and project approval processes.
The PAP consults on matters of program governance, provides technical and legal expertise, independently adjudicates grievances, and reviews appeals. The role of the PAP is to:
Advise on the technical and legal program elements of ICR and its procedures;
Conduct expert review of methodologies, methodology revisions, and technical tools submitted under the ICR program, and provide technical opinions and recommendations to the ICR Board to inform the Board’s approval decisions;
Review draft documentation relating to establishing, revising, or withdrawing requirements, guidelines, and clarifications for climate projects to register and issue ICC’s;
Recommend priority areas for revisions and amendments to ICR program requirements, operational guidelines, procedures, etc.;
Provide insight into the needs of relevant stakeholders;.
Adjudicate appeals related to project validation and verification, issuance or non-issuance of ICCs, compliance with ICR program and methodologies, and outcomes of the ICR Grievance Process;
Issue written decisions on each appeal, detailing the rationale for the decision, and ensure that appeals are handled in a fair, transparent, and timely manner in accordance with the ICR Grievance Process;
Where recurring technical or procedural issues are identified through reviews and appeals, recommend changes to ICR procedures, methodologies, and policies.
The PAP consists of 3 – 5 technical experts, referred to as members. Members shall possess strong knowledge of the ISO 14060 family of standards and GHG program procedures, including the development of projects, development and application of methodologies, modules, and tools, and the responsibilities of validation/verification bodies. Members shall also demonstrate experience in technical assessment, risk evaluation, regulatory interpretation, or governance related to carbon markets. They shall be familiar with carbon market standards, e.g., procedures, policies and the market mechanism. Members can be project proponents, developers, interested parties, organizations, or auditors, provided that they do not participate in the review or adjudication of any matter in which they have a direct or indirect interest. Members of the PAP shall not participate in recommendations concerning projects, methodologies, or entities with which they have been professionally or financially associated within the previous two years.
Members shall not be employees of ICR and shall not hold executive or decision-making roles within ICR management.
Members shall maintain impartiality in all their advisory to the ICR. Impartiality shall include independence from commercial, financial, or organizational pressures that could influence judgment. All members shall sign an impartiality statement. Members shall also complete annual declarations of interest and update such declarations promptly if circumstances change. Conflicts of interest and recusals shall be documented in meeting records.
Procedures of the PAP
PAP operates under the guidance of the ICR Board. The PAP shall operate independently of the ICR Board in its technical review and appeals adjudication functions. While advising the ICR Board, its technical opinions and appeal determinations shall not be influenced by ICR management or operational staff. The CEO and the ICR program management unit operate further under the guidance of the ICR Board regarding activities under the ICR Board’s responsibility.
Membership to the PAP is open for application and published on ICR’s website. Members are selected from a roster of applications, reviewed by the ICR CEO, or by direct recommendation from the CEO. The CEO presents these recommendations to the ICR Board of Directors and the Board of Directors ultimately decides which applicants to appoint to the PAP, considering gender and regional balance. Selection criteria shall include demonstrated technical competence, independence from project development activities under ICR, and impartiality. PAP members shall not be employees of ICR and shall not actively develop projects under the ICR program during their tenure.
The appointment of PAP members occurs every twelve months, and the term is twelve months. The term can be renewed upon mutual agreement and a consensus vote by the ICR Board of Directors. Renewal of membership shall be decided by the ICR Board of Directors based on member performance, ongoing impartiality, and program needs, following consultation with the PAP.
The CSO compiles issues requiring review by the PAP and ensures that members are provided with documentation promptly for consideration. The PAP can also request additional information, documentation, or clarification necessary to perform its review or adjudication functions independently. The PAP can nominate sectoral Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for whom the ICR leadership shall maintain a roster. The SMEs can be invited to assess specific issues that may be disclosed to the PAP. SMEs provide advisory input to help inform decisions made by the PAP and ICR Board.
All PAP meetings are held electronically; the CEO arranges meetings with a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice, consulting members. The PAP shall appoint a meeting chair from its members, rotating which member serves as the chair for each meeting. The meeting chair presides over the meeting and ensures independence of deliberations. The CEO or designated secretariat shall exclusively provide administrative support and shall not participate in appeals deliberations. If any members cannot attend a meeting, they may nominate a representative to participate in their absence, subject to approval from other members. Representatives must meet the same impartiality and confidentiality requirements as appointed members.
Members may be required to spend up to two hours preparing for conference calls, including, inter alia, reviewing proposed revisions and amendments to the ICR program and 2-3 hours attending each meeting.
The ICR CEO is responsible for organizing and facilitating meetings and preparing and disseminating agendas and minutes. The CSO is responsible for developing any resulting draft updates to the ICR program requirements, processes, and guidelines, recommendations from the PAP, minutes of meetings with any program forums. Minutes shall accurately reflect deliberations, decisions, recusals, and recommendations and shall be formally approved by the PAP.
The CEO shall organize and host each PAP meeting. The meeting agenda shall include the following:
Revisions to the ICR program
Methodologies, modules, tools, and revisions approved
Updates on markets
Additional issues (where applicable)
Appeals (where applicable), which shall be discussed in closed session without participation of management or staff involved in the original decision.
All recommendations by the PAP shall be made publicly available unless the PAP and/or the ICR Board decides otherwise, e.g., due to confidentiality. Appeals decisions shall be issued in writing with reasoned explanations and may be summarized publicly while preserving confidentiality.
Recommendations by the PAP shall be disclosed to the ICR Board no less than two weeks before consideration by the ICR Board, and the ICR Board can make decisions regarding the respective advice. The ICR Board shall retain final decision-making authority, except in the case of appeals, where PAP determinations shall be final within the ICR governance structure.
All documentation and meetings of the PAP are to be conducted and documented in English.
Given the potential fluctuating demand for the PAP’s input (e.g. methodology reviews, appeals decisions etc.), the ICR Board may place the panel in abeyance at any time. This may only occur when justified by structural program changes and shall ensure continuity of ongoing technical reviews and appeals processes.
PAP members, and any third-party experts contracting with ICR, are subject to the same conflict of interest policies as program staff, administrators, and board members. Before providing any review or advisory concerning revisions of documentation or a proposal for new methodologies or revisions, members shall inform ICR if they have a conflict of interest. Members shall also confirm absence of conflict prior to participating in appeals adjudication and shall formally recuse themselves where a conflict exists.
Functional Separation
To preserve impartiality and avoid conflicts of interest, the PAP operates with functional separation between technical reviews of methodologies and program requirements, and appeals adjudication functions. Members who have participated in the technical review of a specific matter shall not participate in the adjudication of an appeal relating to the same matter.
Revisions to the ICR Program
The CSO shall prepare and provide all relevant documentation concerning the drafted amendments and proposed revisions of the ICR program to the PAP. The documentation shall include the rationale for the proposed revision, reference to applicable standards or external requirements, assessment of potential impacts on existing projects, and any stakeholder consultation inputs received.
The PAP shall consider proposals for alignment to the latest principles within carbon markets and prepare comments and recommendations to the ICR board. In conducting its review, the PAP shall consider:
Consistency with previously adopted ICR methodologies, procedures, and guidance;
Implications for environmental integrity, additionality, permanence, and risk management;
Potential impacts on stakeholders and ongoing projects;
Alignment with international best practices and relevant market mechanisms (e.g., Article 6, CORSIA, ICVCM and other relevant integrity frameworks).
The PAP may request additional documentation or clarification from the CSO where necessary to complete its review.
The PAP shall make every effort to conclude its consideration and finalize comments and recommendations as soon as practically possible.****The PAP shall issue its recommendations in writing, including a clear rationale for its conclusions. Such recommendations shall be documented in the official program record and submitted to the ICR Board prior to decision-making.
Appendix – Document History
Version
Date
Comment
1.0
20.2.2022
First version.
2.0
14.10.2022
Alignment with revised ICR requirement document and ICR methodology requirements.
3.0
15.2.2024
Alignment with ICR QMS and new organizational chart.
3.1
1.6.2025
Revised organizational chart.
3.2
6.3.2026
Combination of appeals committee function and methodology approval. Revised organizational chart
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