What is the voluntary carbon market (VCM)?

The voluntary carbon market (VCM) allows organizations and individuals to purchase carbon credits on a voluntary basis — outside of compliance obligations — to offset emissions, meet net-zero targets, or support climate action. Credits represent verified emission reductions or removals from projects like renewable energy, forest conservation (REDD+), direct air capture, and biochar.

What is an Environmental Attribute Certificate (EAC)?

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.

What is the difference between EACs and RECs?

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.

What makes a carbon offset 'high integrity'?

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.

What is Climate Decode's Canopy?

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.

Who leads Climate Decode's VCM Series?

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.

What is an Environmental Attribute Certificate (EAC) for cement?

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.

What is the RMI/GMA Book and Claim framework for cement and concrete?

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.

How does SBTi V2 Net Zero Standard relate to EACs and book and claim?

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.

What GCCA rating is required for cement EAC eligibility?

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.

Why is book and claim particularly important for cement?

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.

What is the difference between direct and enhanced substitution for EAC accounting?

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.

How does co-claiming work for cement EACs?

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.

How can Climate Decode Canopy support EAC strategy?

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).

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.

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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 • Series Lead • 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

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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

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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 →

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.

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VCM Series — Voluntary Carbon Markets, EACs, RECs & High-Integrity Offsets | Climate Decode

Topics and Keywords

Voluntary Carbon Markets, EACs & RECs

VCM 101: How Voluntary Carbon Markets Work

High Integrity Offsets: Separating Signal from Noise

Book and Claim for Cement: How EACs Could Reshape Scope 3 Strategy

RECs Explained: Scope 2 Accounting, Additionality & Procurement

Ready to Build Your Residual Emission Strategy?

Abhishek Das

Canopy

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