Nine Countries, One 2028 Target: ICVCM Backs South Korea's Global Verified Carbon Market

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has signed a three-way agreement with South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) to support the development of an international carbon market framework, Carbon Pulse reports. The pact, struck at COP31, comes as nine countries have endorsed the South Korea-led Global Verified Carbon Market (GVCM), a plurilateral cooperative framework under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, Carbon Pulse reports. For credit buyers and project developers, the involvement of the voluntary market’s integrity body gives the emerging framework an early credibility signal before a single credit has been issued.

What the three-way agreement covers

The agreement commits the ICVCM, the finance ministry and GGGI to joint work on an international carbon market framework, according to Carbon Pulse. The three institutions sit at different layers of the market’s design: the ministry leads the initiative, GGGI serves as interim secretariat until a standalone body is formed at official launch, and the ICVCM now adds its backing to the framework’s development.

Source: CarbonMeld — independent carbon credit market intelligence. Document-based ratings and assessments across all major registries: carbonmeld.com. Original article: https://carbonmeld.com/en/articles/icvcm-backs-south-korea-gvcm-nine-country-endorsement/

That backing matters because the GVCM is designed to serve both voluntary and compliance uses, a segment where integrity questions have weighed on demand. An explicit role for the integrity council suggests Seoul wants the market’s quality architecture recognised from the outset rather than retrofitted later.

Nine endorsers and a 2028 horizon

Nine countries have endorsed the GVCM, Carbon Pulse reports, giving the plurilateral initiative a founding group ahead of formal operation. The partners are eyeing an official launch in 2028, according to Carbon Pulse.

That date sits later than the timeline in South Korea’s own implementation plan. The plan, discussed at the 274th Ministerial Meeting on International Economic Affairs on October 12, had the government beginning full-scale operation of the GVCM in 2027, according to CarbonMeld. Whether the 2028 horizon replaces the 2027 target, or distinguishes formal launch from operational start, is not spelled out in the reporting. The public coverage counts the endorsing countries but does not name them.

Two credit classes, blockchain records and an exchange

The design on the table splits GVCM credits into two classes depending on host country authorisation, according to CarbonMeld. Credits with that approval, designated GVCM A, can be used toward the investing country’s nationally determined contribution, for CORSIA compliance and for corporate ESG activities. Credits without approval, GVCM NA, are limited to ESG use, though they can be converted into GVCM A if the host country grants corresponding adjustment approval later.

Core credit data, including the project operator, the host country, a unique identification number, the applied methodology and reduction volumes, will be recorded on a blockchain, while trading is set to prioritise the Korea Exchange, CarbonMeld reports. The issuing body will consist of a board of member countries, a technical oversight committee that decides on issuance and a secretariat, with developing countries sitting on the board. The market has been sized at up to $250 billion by 2050, according to CarbonMeld.

A three-year project already under way

The GVCM builds on groundwork laid earlier this year. GGGI, the UNFCCC Secretariat and the finance ministry officially launched the Global Voluntary Carbon Market Aligned with the Paris Agreement project in April 2026, holding an inception workshop in Yeosu alongside the UNFCCC Regional Climate Week, cCarbon reports. The initiative is a strategic three-year project running from 2026 to 2028, designed to strengthen the integrity of voluntary carbon markets by aligning them with the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism and to overcome market fragmentation through a unified, transparent framework that prevents double counting.

The initiative has since been renamed: the voluntary label was dropped in favour of Verified because it suggested a narrower use than the government intends, according to CarbonMeld. “If we want markets to matter, they must be trusted,” GGGI Executive Director Sang-hyup Kim said at the launch, in remarks reported by cCarbon.

What buyers and developers should watch

First, the partner list. Nine endorsements give the framework a founding group, but the identity of the countries, and whether they include significant credit hosts or buyers, will determine the market’s early supply and demand balance.

Second, what ICVCM backing means in practice. The COP31 agreement covers support for the framework’s development; whether it extends to any formal quality assessment of GVCM credits remains to be defined.

Third, the launch path. The gap between the 2027 operational target and the 2028 launch horizon, together with the mechanics of converting GVCM NA credits into authorised units, will shape when compliance-grade supply actually reaches buyers.