November 2025
The International Carbon Registry (ICR) has released its updated program documents following the completion of its September–October 2025 public consultation.
The revisions strengthen environmental integrity, improve usability for project developers and VVBs, and enhance alignment with international frameworks including the ICVCM Core Carbon Principles, ICAO CORSIA criteria, ICROA endorsement requirements, and PACM.
ICR periodically revises its program to ensure that requirements reflect the latest science, market expectations, and policy developments. The 2025 update cycle focused on:
introducing clearer additionality requirements,
implementing dynamic baselines,
strengthening permanence provisions,
improving VVB oversight, and
enhancing the overall clarity and consistency of ICR guidance.
A new document, ICR Additionality Specifications was also introduced to codify ICR’s multilevel additionality framework and continuous reporting requirements. These revisions aim to ensure high integrity outcomes while maintaining practicality for project implementation.
Public consultation
A public consultation ran from 26 September to 26 October 2025. Stakeholders offered valuable insights on additionality, permanence, dynamic baselines, grouped project rules, digital tools, and administrative processes. ICR reviewed each submission and responded to all comments. Many stakeholder comments directly informed refinements to the final documentation.
Release of updated program documentation
Following the consultation, ICR has now released the final updated versions of:
ICR Definitions (v3.2)
ICR Requirement Document (v6.1)
ICR Process Requirements (v6.2)
ICR Methodology Requirements (v3.1)
NEW: ICR Additionality Specifications (v1.0)
These documents include clarified requirements, enhanced methodological consistency, strengthened integrity safeguards, and updates reflecting stakeholder feedback, such as expanded provisions for grouped projects in harmonized jurisdictions and refinements to crediting period guidance.
The final documents are available on the ICR Documentation page.
Effective date
The revised documents become effective immediately. A sunset period applies to support a smooth transition:
All validations initiated on or after 1 December 2025 must follow the updated documents.
Projects already in validation before 1 December 2025 may continue applying the previous program version (v6.0) until 31 March 2026.
Projects that used v6.0 previously must adopt v6.1 from their next verification onward.
All projects applying versions should transition to the latest program version as soon as practicable.
To support implementation of the revised requirements, ICR will release updated templates in the coming weeks. ICR is also developing a digitized platform for project design, monitoring, validation, and verification. A beta version of the platform will be released shortly, offering streamlined workflows, improved data quality, and enhanced traceability across the project cycle.
Details about the public consultation can be accessed below.
Program Revision - September 2025Last updated