The American Carbon Registry (ACR) has secured Core Carbon Principles (CCP) approval from the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) for version 2.0 of its Improved Forest Management (IFM) on Non-Federal U.S. Forestlands methodology, following the latest round of methodology assessments.
Credits issued under IFM 2.0 that are eligible for the CCP label include both removals and emissions reduction credits, quantified using ACR’s Tool for Dynamic Evaluation of Baselines. The CCP label is expected to become active shortly for around 2.7 million eligible IFM 2.0 credits listed on the ACR Registry.
The approval adds to ACR’s growing list of CCP-recognised methodologies. Its Afforestation and Reforestation of Degraded Lands (ARR) methodology received CCP approval in July 2025, followed by IFM on Non-Federal U.S. Forestlands v2.1 in August 2025. Several other forest methodologies—IFM on Non-Federal U.S. Forestlands v1.3, IFM on Small Non-Industrial Private Forestlands v1.0, and Active Conservation and Sustainable Management on U.S. Forestlands v1.0—remain under ICVCM assessment.
ACR said the latest decision marks further progress in the ICVCM approval process and reaffirmed its intention to continue engaging with the council to secure CCP-approved labels across its portfolio of active methodologies, covering both nature-based and industrial emissions reductions and removals.
At the programme level, ICVCM approved ACR as Core Carbon Principles Eligible in April 2024, following an extensive assessment. As part of the process, ACR demonstrated compliance with CCP requirements on governance, credit tracking, transparency, and independent third-party validation and verification, alongside its status as a CORSIA Eligible Emissions Unit Programme under the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Established in 1996 as the world’s first private greenhouse gas registry, ACR has played a central role in developing carbon credit quality assurance, including peer-reviewed accounting methodologies, approaches to additionality, leakage and reversal risk mitigation, independent verification oversight, and the operation of a transparent registry for issuing and tracking serialised credits.
ACR credits are approved for use in several regulated carbon markets, including California’s Cap-and-Trade Programme, Washington State’s Cap-and-Invest Programme, and for compliance with Singapore’s Carbon Pricing Act.
ACR said the ICVCM’s CCP label is expected to further strengthen buyer confidence in credit quality and support the flow of finance towards high-integrity climate solutions aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
