What should I check on a specific carbon credit before buying it?
Check that the credit sits on a recognised registry with unique serial numbers, has not been retired, comes from a project with a current methodology and a recent vintage, carries an ICVCM CCP label where available, has a buffer for reversal risk if it is nature-based, and matches the claim you plan to make.
Registry and serial numbers
- Ask for the registry name, project ID and the exact serial number range of the credits you are buying.
- Open the public registry yourself and confirm the serials exist, are active and are held by the seller or their broker.
- Make sure the same project is not also issuing on a second registry for the same period. Double issuance is rare but checkable.
- After purchase, the retirement must be in your company's name, with the purpose stated, and you should keep the retirement certificate or link.
Project quality
- Methodology: confirm the version is still active. Credits issued under withdrawn or revised methodologies, for example older cookstove methods that overestimated fuel savings, carry more risk.
- CCP label: the ICVCM assesses methodologies against its Core Carbon Principles. A credit tagged CCP-approved has passed that programme and methodology review.
- Validation and verification: read the latest verification report and note the validation and verification body that signed it.
- Additionality story: if the project would clearly have happened anyway, such as large grid-connected solar in a market where it is already cheap, expect buyer and press scrutiny.
Vintage and permanence
Vintage is the year the reduction happened. Many buyers set a limit, such as no credits more than five years old, because old vintages often come from methods since tightened.
For forestry and other removals that can be reversed, check that the project contributes to the registry's buffer pool and that its risk rating is published.
Fit with your claim
- If you will use the credits under the VCMI Claims Code, check its quality and claim conditions before buying.
- If a buyer, airline scheme or government programme needs credits authorised by the host country, ask whether a corresponding adjustment applies. Most voluntary credits from India have none.
- Do not count credits as a reduction in your Scope 1, 2 or 3 inventory. Report them separately.
What Senseible does here
Senseible does not rate, verify or score individual carbon credits, including listings on its own marketplace. Apply the same checks to any credit, wherever you buy it.
Sources: ICVCM Core Carbon Principles and Assessment Framework, VCMI Claims Code of Practice, Verra VCS Program Guide (registry and buffer rules)
Last reviewed 2026-10-15. ICVCM CCP approvals are added methodology by methodology; check the current list before relying on a label.