--- title: VCM Series — Voluntary Carbon Markets, EACs & RECs | Climate Decode description: VCM Series by Climate Decode — voluntary carbon markets, Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs), Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), and high-integrity carbon offsets. Frameworks for residual emission procurement and credible balancing strategy. Powered by Canopy. image: https://insights.climate-decode.com/hubfs/Climate%20Decode%20-%20Insights%20OG%20Image.png --- [Skip to content](https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-series#main-content) [![Climate Decode](https://insights.climate-decode.com/hubfs/transparent-logo.svg)Homepage](https://climate-decode.com/) [Sign In](https://platform.climate-decode.com/) [Sign In](https://platform.climate-decode.com/) ## VCM Series — Voluntary Carbon Markets, EACs, RECs & High-Integrity Offsets | Climate Decode Climate Decode's VCM Series covers voluntary carbon markets (VCM), Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs), Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), high-integrity carbon offsets, and the procurement frameworks for residual emission balancing. Series articles include: (a) VCM 101 — How voluntary carbon markets work, credit types, quality frameworks, and the role of voluntary action in corporate net-zero strategy. (b) High Integrity Offsets — Evaluating offset quality, additionality, permanence, co-benefits, and alignment with ICVCM Core Carbon Principles and VCMI Claims Code. (c) EACs — Book and Claim for Cement: How EACs Could Reshape Scope 3 Strategy. Analysis of the RMI/GMA framework, SBTi V2 Net Zero Standard, GCCA eligibility, and Canopy procurement support. (d) RECs — Renewable Energy Certificates explained: market-based Scope 2 accounting, unbundled vs bundled RECs, additionality, and procurement best practices. Powered by Canopy — Climate Decode's AI-powered residual emission procurement platform. Series led by Abhishek Das. ### Topics and Keywords VCM, voluntary carbon market, carbon offsets, carbon credits, EAC, environmental attribute certificate, REC, renewable energy certificate, book and claim, Scope 2, Scope 3, SBTi, VCMI, ICVCM, Core Carbon Principles, Claims Code, high integrity offsets, additionality, permanence, co-benefits, nature-based solutions, NBS, REDD+, CDR, carbon dioxide removal, residual emissions, net zero, Canopy, Climate Decode, Abhishek Das. | [← Insights Hub](https://insights.climate-decode.com?hsLang=en) | [Speak to an Expert →](https://insights.climate-decode.com/contactus?hsLang=en) | | --- | --- | Canopy • VCM Series # Voluntary Carbon Markets, EACs & RECs From offset integrity and book-and-claim frameworks to REC procurement and residual emission strategy — the intelligence layer for voluntary action. 4 Articles By **Abhishek Das** • Updated March 2026 [Articles](https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-series#articles) • [Series Lead](https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-series#author) • [Canopy](https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-series#canopy) Published & Upcoming Articles | Fundamentals VCM VCM 101: How Voluntary Carbon Markets Work Credit types, quality frameworks, registries, pricing dynamics, and the role of voluntary action in corporate net-zero strategy. By Abhishek Das • Coming Soon Coming Soon | Offset Quality ICVCM • VCMI High Integrity Offsets: Separating Signal from Noise Evaluating offset quality, additionality, permanence, co-benefits, and alignment with ICVCM Core Carbon Principles and the VCMI Claims Code. By Abhishek Das • Coming Soon Coming Soon | | --- | --- | | EACs & Scope 3 RMI • SBTi Book and Claim for Cement: How EACs Could Reshape Scope 3 Strategy The RMI/GMA framework, SBTi V2 signals, GCCA eligibility thresholds, and how Canopy supports end-to-end EAC procurement for cement and concrete. By Abhishek Das • March 2026 • 12 min read Read Article → | Scope 2 & Energy RECs RECs Explained: Scope 2 Accounting, Additionality & Procurement Market-based Scope 2 accounting, unbundled vs bundled RECs, additionality considerations, and procurement best practices for corporate renewable claims. By Abhishek Das • Coming Soon Coming Soon | | --- | --- | ## Ready to Build Your Residual Emission Strategy? Climate Decode's Canopy is an AI-powered residual emission procurement platform — from calculating residual emissions and curating offsets, EACs, and RECs to RFQ management, portfolio optimization, and audit-ready compliance reporting. [Get in Touch →](https://insights.climate-decode.com/contactus?hsLang=en) | ![Abhishek Das](https://insights.climate-decode.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Abhishek%20Das%20-%20Headshot.png?width=160&height=160&name=Abhishek%20Das%20-%20Headshot.png) | VCM Series Lead ### Abhishek Das Climate Decode Abhishek leads Climate Decode's voluntary carbon markets and residual emission procurement strategy. The VCM Series explores how offsets, EACs, RECs, and emerging instruments fit into credible, auditable residual balancing strategies — powered by Canopy. [Contact Abhishek →](https://insights.climate-decode.com/contactus?hsLang=en) | | --- | --- | Powered By ## Canopy Climate Decode's AI-powered residual emission procurement platform. Calculate residuals, curate offsets, EACs, and RECs with AI matching, manage RFQs and portfolio optimization, and generate audit-ready reports for CSRD, AB1305, and VCMI — all in one workspace. [Learn More →](https://climate-decode.com/platform/canopy) © 2026 Climate Decode. All rights reserved. [climate-decode.com](https://climate-decode.com)  •  [Insights Hub](https://insights.climate-decode.com?hsLang=en)  •  [CDR Series](https://insights.climate-decode.com/cdr-series?hsLang=en) [Privacy Policy](https://climate-decode.com/privacy-policy) · © 2026 Climate Decode. All rights reserved. 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[Privacy Policy](https://climate-decode.com/privacy) [Disclaimer](https://climate-decode.com/disclaimer) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "CollectionPage", "about" : [ { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM)" }, { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs)" }, { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)" }, { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "High Integrity Carbon Offsets" }, { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "ICVCM Core Carbon Principles" }, { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "VCMI Claims Code" }, { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "Residual Emission Procurement" } ], "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "affiliation" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Climate Decode" }, "name" : "Abhishek Das" }, "dateModified" : "2026-03-07", "datePublished" : "2026-03-07", "description" : "Climate Decode's VCM Series covers voluntary carbon markets, Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs), Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), high-integrity carbon offsets, and the procurement frameworks for residual emission balancing — powered by Canopy.", "inLanguage" : "en", "name" : "VCM Series — Voluntary Carbon Markets, EACs & RECs | Climate Decode", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Climate Decode", "url" : "https://climate-decode.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "cssSelector" : [ "h1", "h2", ".hero-subtitle" ] }, "url" : "https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-series" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement" : [ { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://climate-decode.com", "name" : "Climate Decode", "position" : 1 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://insights.climate-decode.com", "name" : "Insights", "position" : 2 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-series", "name" : "VCM Series", "position" : 3 } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "ItemList", "itemListElement" : [ { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : { "@type" : "Article", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Abhishek Das" }, "description" : "Credit types, quality frameworks, registries, pricing dynamics, and the role of voluntary action in corporate net-zero strategy.", "name" : "VCM 101: How Voluntary Carbon Markets Work" }, "position" : 1 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : { "@type" : "Article", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Abhishek Das" }, "description" : "Evaluating offset quality, additionality, permanence, co-benefits, and alignment with ICVCM Core Carbon Principles and the VCMI Claims Code.", "name" : "High Integrity Offsets: Separating Signal from Noise" }, "position" : 2 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : { "@type" : "Article", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Abhishek Das" }, "datePublished" : "2026-03-07", "description" : "The RMI/GMA Book and Claim framework for cement and concrete, SBTi V2 signals, GCCA eligibility thresholds, and how Canopy supports end-to-end EAC procurement.", "name" : "Book and Claim for Cement: How EACs Could Reshape Scope 3 Strategy", "url" : "https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-eac-cement" }, "position" : 3 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : { "@type" : "Article", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Abhishek Das" }, "description" : "Market-based Scope 2 accounting, unbundled vs bundled RECs, additionality considerations, and procurement best practices for corporate renewable claims.", "name" : "RECs Explained: Scope 2 Accounting, Additionality & Procurement" }, "position" : 4 } ], "name" : "VCM Series Articles", "numberOfItems" : 4 } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Person", "affiliation" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Climate Decode", "url" : "https://climate-decode.com" }, "image" : "https://244963893.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na2.net/hubfs/244963893/Abhishek%20Das%20-%20Headshot.jpeg", "knowsAbout" : [ "Voluntary Carbon Markets", "Carbon Offsets", "EACs", "RECs", "Book and Claim", "Residual Emissions", "ICVCM", "VCMI", "SBTi", "CSRD", "Carbon Procurement" ], "name" : "Abhishek Das" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "SoftwareApplication", "applicationCategory" : "BusinessApplication", "creator" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Climate Decode", "url" : "https://climate-decode.com" }, "description" : "Climate Decode's AI-powered residual emission procurement platform. 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Credits represent verified emission reductions or removals from projects like renewable energy, forest conservation (REDD+), direct air capture, and biochar." }, "name" : "What is the voluntary carbon market (VCM)?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "An Environmental Attribute Certificate (EAC) decouples the environmental attributes of a low-carbon product from its physical delivery using a book-and-claim chain of custody model. For cement and concrete, EACs allow buyers to financially support low-carbon production and claim Scope 3 inventory benefits without requiring the physical product to be delivered to their project site." }, "name" : "What is an Environmental Attribute Certificate (EAC)?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) represent the environmental attributes of renewable electricity generation and are used for market-based Scope 2 accounting. EACs (Environmental Attribute Certificates) are a broader category that can apply to products beyond energy — including cement, concrete, steel, and other materials — and are primarily used for Scope 3 claims. Both use a book-and-claim approach to decouple environmental attributes from physical delivery." }, "name" : "What is the difference between EACs and RECs?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "High-integrity carbon offsets must demonstrate additionality (the emission reduction would not have happened without the offset revenue), permanence (the reduction is durable and not easily reversed), measurability (emissions reductions are quantified using robust methodologies), avoidance of leakage (the project doesn't shift emissions elsewhere), and no double counting. The ICVCM Core Carbon Principles and VCMI Claims Code provide the leading frameworks for assessing offset integrity." }, "name" : "What makes a carbon offset 'high integrity'?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Canopy is Climate Decode's AI-powered residual emission procurement platform built for managing the last 20% of emissions that remain after compliance reductions. It provides an end-to-end workflow: Scope 3 strategy and residual calculation, AI-curated origination of offsets, EACs, and RECs, RFQ management and portfolio optimization, procurement tracking from PO to retirement, and audit-ready compliance reporting for CSRD, AB1305, and VCMI." }, "name" : "What is Climate Decode's Canopy?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The VCM Series is led by Abhishek Das at Climate Decode. Abhishek works on voluntary carbon markets and residual emission procurement strategy, bridging industrial decarbonization with emerging book-and-claim frameworks and credible residual balancing approaches." }, "name" : "Who leads Climate Decode's VCM Series?" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Article", "articleSection" : "VCM Series", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "jobTitle" : "Analyst", "name" : "Abhishek Das", "worksFor" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Climate Decode" } }, "dateModified" : "2026-03-07", "datePublished" : "2026-03-07", "description" : "How Environmental Attribute Certificates and the RMI/GMA Book and Claim framework could reshape Scope 3 strategy for cement and concrete, analyzed alongside SBTi V2 Net Zero Standard and GCCA eligibility.", "headline" : "Book and Claim for Cement: How EACs Could Reshape Scope 3 Strategy", "isPartOf" : { "@type" : "CreativeWorkSeries", "name" : "VCM Series", "url" : "https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-series" }, "keywords" : [ "EAC", "environmental attribute certificate", "book and claim", "cement", "concrete", "Scope 3", "SBTi", "net zero", "RMI", "GMA", "GCCA", "Canopy", "Climate Decode" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-eac-cement", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Climate Decode", "url" : "https://climate-decode.com" }, "wordCount" : 2800 } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement" : [ { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://insights.climate-decode.com", "name" : "Insights", "position" : 1 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-series", "name" : "VCM Series", "position" : 2 }, { "@type" : "ListItem", "item" : "https://insights.climate-decode.com/vcm-eac-cement", "name" : "EAC Book and Claim for Cement", "position" : 3 } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "FAQPage", "mainEntity" : [ { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "An EAC is a certificate representing the environmental attributes (carbon intensity and GHG reductions) of a given quantity of lower-carbon cement or concrete. It decouples the environmental benefit from the physical product, allowing it to be issued, sold, and transferred independently via a book and claim chain of custody model." }, "name" : "What is an Environmental Attribute Certificate (EAC) for cement?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Version 1 of the framework, adopted January 2026, was developed by GMA and RMI with approximately 30 organizations including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Holcim, and Heidelberg. It outlines core principles for book and claim transactions in cement and concrete, including eligibility criteria, accounting approaches, co-claiming rules, and digital registry requirements." }, "name" : "What is the RMI/GMA Book and Claim framework for cement and concrete?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The SBTi V2 draft released in November 2025 signals acceptance of indirect mitigation instruments including book and claim for Scope 3 reporting. If adopted in the final standard expected in 2026, it would formalize a pathway for companies to claim Scope 3 inventory reductions through EAC purchases." }, "name" : "How does SBTi V2 Net Zero Standard relate to EACs and book and claim?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "From 2025 to 2030, products must achieve a minimum GCCA Low Carbon Rating of C band for their specific production region. From 2030 onward, the threshold tightens to B band or better. Ratings are regionalized using country-specific clinker-to-cement ratios." }, "name" : "What GCCA rating is required for cement EAC eligibility?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Cement is inherently local due to high transport costs, but demand for low-carbon materials is global — driven by infrastructure and data center developers with Scope 3 targets. EACs bridge this geographic mismatch by allowing buyers to financially support decarbonization regardless of local supply availability." }, "name" : "Why is book and claim particularly important for cement?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Direct substitution replaces the emissions intensity of an equivalent product in the buyer's inventory with the EAC emissions intensity, requiring close matching on functional unit, geography, and product type. Enhanced substitution compares the EAC product against a regional baseline and applies the marginal reduction, used when direct matching is not possible." }, "name" : "What is the difference between direct and enhanced substitution for EAC accounting?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Only one organization may claim the Scope 1 and 2 emissions impact of the EAC-generating product. However, multiple organizations across the value chain (producers, contractors, developers) may co-claim the Scope 3 emissions impact, as indirect emissions inherently overlap across supply chain participants." }, "name" : "How does co-claiming work for cement EACs?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Climate Decode's Canopy is an AI-powered residual emission procurement platform that helps organizations manage the last 20% of emissions remaining after compliance reductions. For cement EACs, Canopy supports four key workflows: Scope 3 Strategy (residual calculation, target setting, peer benchmarking, and SBTi/VCMI alignment), EAC Origination (AI-curated matching of residual profiles with GCCA-eligible, EPD-verified cement EACs alongside offsets and RECs), EAC Procurement (RFQ management, portfolio optimisation across High Quality/Balanced/Cost Effective strategies, and end-to-end tracking from PO to retirement with Ariba and Coupa sync), and EAC Reporting (audit-ready compliance reports for CSRD, AB1305, and VCMI with full inventory ledger and CDP Portal push)." }, "name" : "How can Climate Decode Canopy support EAC strategy?" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "SoftwareApplication", "applicationCategory" : "BusinessApplication", "creator" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Climate Decode" }, "description" : "Climate Decode's Canopy is an AI-powered residual emission procurement platform for managing the last 20% of emissions. End-to-end workflow spanning residual calculation, AI-curated offsets/EACs/RECs, RFQ management, portfolio optimization, procurement tracking, and audit-ready compliance reporting for CSRD, AB1305, VCMI, and CORSIA.", "name" : "Canopy", "offers" : { "@type" : "Offer", "category" : "Enterprise" }, "operatingSystem" : "Web", "url" : "https://climate-decode.com" } ```