VCM Update — April 2026: New Labels, New Methodologies, a Big Month for Nature Carbon

April was an unusually busy month.

Compliance markets, voluntary standards, and agricultural carbon all moved, and for once, in the same direction. 

Welcome back to VCM Update, Archeda's ongoing editorial series where our team tracks the most important developments shaping the Voluntary Carbon Market. 

This edition covers: Verra released updated guidance for Article 6 and CORSIA labels; rice credits under VM0051 were formally approved for CORSIA compliance; the first-ever credits under Verra's VM0047 ARR methodology were issued; and Gold Standard published two new methodologies ― STARR for forest restoration and DREAM for rice. 

Let's break it down piece by piece. 

① Understanding Verra's Updated Article 6 and CORSIA Label Framework

On April 9, 2026, Verra released updated guidance documents for Article 6 and CORSIA labels under the VCS Program, along with a new Buyers' Guide. 

In this session, we will break down what these updates mean in practice for buyers navigating the evolving Article 6 label system and for project proponents preparing for CORSIA’s first mandatory compliance phase starting in January 2027.

We believe this will be particularly valuable for stakeholders looking to stay ahead of emerging market requirements and make informed strategic decisions in the lead-up to the compliance phase.

Which Article 6 Label Do You Actually Need?

1．Why Do Labels Exist?

As we have discussed in our previous blogs, one of the central challenges under Article 6 is the risk of double counting: where the same emission reduction could be claimed by both the host country and the buyer.

Under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, this risk arises when a mitigation outcome generated in one country is transferred to and used by another country or an international program, while also being counted toward the host country's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

Without a mechanism to prevent this, the same tonne of CO₂ effectively does the work of two — undermining the environmental integrity of the entire transaction.

Importantly, not every use of a VCU requires an Article 6 label. The label system exists specifically for situations where a Corresponding Adjustment (CA) is needed — that is, where the host country must formally remove the mitigation outcome from its own national accounting to ensure it is only counted once. 

2.The Four Labels

Verra currently offers four Article 6 labels under the VCS Program:

• Article 6 Authorized – NDC Use
  The host country has authorized the VCU for use toward another country's NDC. A corresponding adjustment (CA) is required and is triggered at the point of first international transfer (when the credit is transferred to a compliance program registry or a national registry in another country).
  For NDC use, this first transfer condition is always fixed; there is no flexibility on the trigger point. 

• Article 6 Authorized – International Mitigation Purposes
  The host country has authorized the VCU for use under international programs established by treaties other than the Paris Agreement. Currently, this means CORSIA, the carbon offsetting scheme for international aviation administered by ICAO.
  A CA is required. This label is a mandatory prerequisite for any VCU with a vintage from 2021 onward to receive a CORSIA-eligible label. However, it is a necessary condition, not a sufficient one.
  A separate CORSIA-eligible label must also be obtained before the credit can be used toward an aircraft operator's compliance obligation.

• Article 6 Authorized – Other Purposes
  The host country has authorized the VCU for voluntary use (for example, corporate net zero claims or beyond value chain mitigation contributions) and has committed to applying a CA.
  This is not required under the Paris Agreement for voluntary uses, and to date has not been a widespread practice. However, some buyers are increasingly seeking it to strengthen the credibility of their climate commitments.

• Article 6 Correspondingly Adjusted (new in v1.1)
  The CA has been completed and formally confirmed in the host country's Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) submitted to the UNFCCC — and that confirmation must be traceable to the specific VCUs, including the Verra Project ID, vintage, and approved quantity.
  This is the highest level of assurance available. This label is applied on top of an existing Article 6 Authorized label; there are no additional fees to upgrade.

3.Matching Labels to Use Cases

• If you are a government or compliance buyer

The key question is whether you need full accounting certainty now.
If yes, the Article 6 Correspondingly Adjusted label is the one to look for — it confirms the CA is done and on the public record with the UNFCCC.

If you are purchasing ahead of compliance. For example, under a forward contract — the Article 6 Authorized – NDC Use label is appropriate, provided the LOA is clear, the first transfer condition is defined as the first international transfer (as required for NDC use), and contractual protections for CA delivery are in place.

• If you are a corporate buyer making voluntary commitments

For buyers making ambitious commitments, such as beyond value chain mitigation claims or contributions toward science-based targets — the Article 6 Authorized – Other Purposes label (or the Correspondingly Adjusted label where available) provides assurance that the mitigation outcome is not also counted toward the host country's own climate targets.

For buyers where a CA is not a priority, a standard VCU without an Article 6 label may be sufficient. Article 6 authorization is not required under the Paris Agreement for voluntary uses, and many high-quality VCUs remain available without it.

• If you are buying for CORSIA

CORSIA has its own additional label requirements layered on top of Article 6 authorization.

Please refer to the next section for a closer look at what is changing and why it matters. 

CORSIA's First Mandatory Phase — What Changes?

CORSIA has been operating in voluntary phases since 2021. 

The Pilot Phase (2021–2023) and First Phase (2024–2026) allowed countries and their airlines to participate on an opt-in basis. 
Starting January 1, 2027, the Second Phase begins, and for the first time, participation becomes mandatory for aircraft operators in participating countries.

This matters for anyone involved in supplying carbon credits to the aviation sector. Demand for CORSIA-eligible credits is expected to increase significantly as more airlines come under compliance obligations.

1．What the Updated CORSIA Label Guidance Adds

The v1.1 CORSIA Label Guidance introduces eligibility criteria for the Second Phase (2027–2029) for the first time. 
The structure of the CORSIA label system itself remains the same, two tiers:

• CORSIA Scope label
  Indicates that the VCU falls within the scope of eligibility for a given CORSIA phase, based on project type, methodology, and vintage.
  This alone does not make a VCU eligible for use toward CORSIA obligations — it is an early-stage eligibility marker.

• CORSIA-Eligible label
  Confirms the VCU is fully eligible for retirement toward CORSIA obligations. For vintages from 2021 onward, this requires the CORSIA Scope label plus an Article 6 Authorized – International Mitigation Purposes label, plus assurance of no double claiming (covered below).
  Project proponents may also bypass the Scope label entirely and apply directly for the CORSIA-Eligible label once all requirements are met.

2.Which Projects Are Eligible for the Second Phase?

For AFOLU projects — the category most relevant to nature-based solutions including forests, wetlands, and agricultural land — the Second Phase eligibility list includes the following methodologies applicable to projects in REDD+ countries: VM0012, VM0017, VM0021, VM0022, VM0024, VM0026, VM0032, VM0033 (Tidal Wetland and Seagrass Restoration), VM0036, VM0041, VM0042 (Improved Agricultural Land Management), and VM0051 (Improved Management in Rice Production Systems, newly added for the Second Phase).

By contrast, certain methodologies are not eligible for projects in REDD+ countries without additional safeguards.

• VM0047 (Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation), for example, is currently ineligible for REDD+ country projects unless nested within a CORSIA-approved jurisdictional framework. This restriction reflects concerns that where national or subnational REDD+ accounting already exists, standalone projects risk overlapping carbon accounting and double issuance.

• Similarly, VM0048 (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is proposed by Verra for acceptance only where projects are nested within a CORSIA-approved jurisdictional REDD+ program such as ART, FCPF, or JNR — a decision by ICAO's Technical Advisory Body (TAB) on this proposal remains pending. 

Projects developed outside of REDD+ countries remain broadly eligible.

Projects in REDD+ countries that generate fewer than 7,000 tCO₂e per year also remain eligible regardless of methodology.

② Rice Fields, Aviation Emissions, and a New Carbon Credit Opportunity in ASEAN

In April 2026, carbon credits from rice farming projects became eligible for use under CORSIA, which requires airlines to purchase credits to offset emissions above their baseline. 

Unlike voluntary carbon markets, airlines must participate, making CORSIA-eligible credits particularly stable in demand. 

For project developers and MRV providers in ASEAN, this opens a significant new opportunity.

Methodology: VM0051 

In February 2025, Verra released VM0051 Improved Management in Rice Production Systems, v1.0: a new methodology for carbon projects in flooded rice systems, replacing the old CDM methodology (AMS-III.AU.) that had been inactivated in March 2023.

Rice cultivation is a surprisingly large source of greenhouse gases. 
Flooded paddy fields produce methane as organic matter decomposes underwater. 

VM0051 enables projects to earn carbon credits by adopting practices that reduce these emissions, including:

• Alternate wetting and drying (AWD): Periodically draining fields to reduce methane-producing anaerobic conditions

• Improved rice varieties: Shorter cultivation periods and low-emission cultivars

• Better fertilizer management: Optimized nitrogen application to reduce N₂O emissions

• Digital MRV: Built-in guidance for remote sensing, machine learning, and AI-assisted monitoring

One of VM0051's defining features is its explicit support for digital MRV, including remote sensing data as part of the additionality demonstration.

This reflects a broader shift in the carbon market toward technology-driven verification.

What changed in April 2026

• March 2023: Verra inactivates AMS-III.AU., creating a gap in the market for rice projects

• February 2025: VM0051 launches with a modernized framework, dynamic baseline setting, and digital MRV support

• April 2026: ICAO's Technical Advisory Board approves VM0051 credits for CORSIA Phases 1 and 2 (2024–2029), covering projects in developing countries

Currently, there are eight registered projects using VM0051 on the Verra Registry, estimated to generate over 1.73 million credits per year.

Given the scale of global rice cultivation, 168 million hectares worldwide, the supply potential is vast, especially across ASEAN.

What this means for ASEAN

ASEAN is home to some of the world's largest rice-producing countries.

Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Myanmar collectively account for a substantial share of global paddy production. As developing countries, all five fall within CORSIA's scope for VM0051, though actual eligibility still depends on host country authorization. 

This creates a clear opportunity. 

Rice farmers in the region already face pressure to adopt water-efficient and lower-emission practices. 

CORSIA-eligible carbon credits could provide the financial incentive to accelerate that transition, while generating revenue for farmers and project developers alike.

The role of satellite MRV

Monitoring paddy fields at scale is not easy. Farms are fragmented, conditions vary by season, and physical field visits are costly. This is where satellite-based MRV becomes essential.

VM0051 explicitly supports remote sensing in its additionality and monitoring framework. 

The CORSIA approval of VM0051 is an early signal, not a fully open door. 

Developers will still need to navigate Article 6 authorization processes, which vary by country and are still evolving. Verra has also indicated it will update its CORSIA label guidance to reflect the VM0051 inclusion.

Agricultural carbon projects — rice in particular — are moving from niche to mainstream. With compliance aviation demand behind them and satellite MRV enabling scalable verification, AWD rice projects in ASEAN are entering a much more favorable landscape.

③ Verra approves first credits under VM0047 ARR methodology

A new high-integrity crediting pathway for forest restoration goes live. Rice is not the only land-use sector drawing renewed attention from the carbon market. 

On April 20, 2026, Verra issued the first verified carbon credits under a separate methodology milestone, for forest restoration.
Verra approved the first-ever issuance under VM0047, its methodology for afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR). 

The recipient is the Brazil Cerrado 1 project (VCS #5511)、 covering 16,941 hectares of degraded cattle pasture across Mato Grosso do Sul、 Mato Grosso, and Minas Gerais. 

The initial issuance totals 230,120 VCUs, with the project expected to remove approximately 7 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent over its 20-year crediting period.

The land had been locked in a familiar degradation cycle: non-native grasses planted for cattle, any native regrowth grazed down, remaining woody vegetation mechanically cleared every few years.

VM0047 has been approved by the ICVCM under its Core Carbon Principles (CCP) framework, the benchmark increasingly used by corporate buyers to filter out lower-quality credits. 

The project also holds dual certification under VCS and CCBS, so its biodiversity and community co-benefits are independently verified. Validation and verification were conducted by AENOR.

For ARR project developers, this first issuance confirms that VM0047 is production-ready. 

Archeda's MRV platform utilizing satellite data, supports forest carbon projects, covering site eligibility assessment, dynamic baseline setting, and ongoing monitoring for forest loss and implementation progress.

VM0047 brings this project type into the high-integrity tier, and we are watching this development closely. 

④Gold Standard’ STARR: A Tiered Approach to ARR Crediting

Afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation projects have long faced a structural tension in carbon markets: the monitoring frameworks designed to ensure credit integrity are often too costly for the smaller developers and community projects that make up a significant share of real-world restoration activity. 

Gold Standard's newly released Sustainable Transformation through Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation (STARR) methodology is a direct response to that problem.

Published on Earth Day 2026, STARR introduces a three-track system calibrated to project scale:

On the monitoring side, STARR moves away from purely field-based measurement toward a hybrid system combining advanced remote sensing with targeted ground-truth sampling.

Dynamic baselines remain the standard for Tracks 1 and 2, adjusting as regional land-use patterns and natural regeneration conditions evolve.

For Track 3 smallholder contexts, conservative static historical baselines are permitted where dynamic approaches are operationally impractical.

STARR also expands the range of eligible activities beyond classical afforestation and reforestation. 

All silvicultural systems are covered, from conservation forests with no timber extraction to rotation forestry.

Agroforestry and silvopasture — integrating trees, pasture, and livestock — are explicitly included across all tracks.

From a market credibility standpoint, the methodology is built to align with ICVCM Core Carbon Principles requirements and compliance market inclusion criteria, positioning credits generated under STARR for institutional and regulatory acceptance.

However, the methodology is not yet in force. 
Gold Standard has indicated it will be open for public consultation shortly, with stakeholder feedback shaping the final version before it goes live.

⑤ Gold Standard's DREAM: A New Methodology Purpose-Built for Rice Carbon

Rice paddies are responsible for roughly 10% of global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, a massive mitigation opportunity that the voluntary carbon market has struggled to unlock at scale. 

Verifying emissions across millions of fragmented smallholder plots using traditional ground-based measurement is simply too expensive to make most projects financially viable.

Gold Standard's newly released Digital Rice Emission Avoidance Methodology (DREAM) is a direct attempt to solve that. 

Currently open for public consultation until May 22, 2026, DREAM introduces satellite-based digital MRV as a formally recognized verification pathway for rice carbon projects. 

This could meaningfully reshape how nature-based carbon finance reaches smallholder farmers across Asia.

Core Idea: A Two-Track System Built for Scale

DREAM's most important design decision is its bifurcated compliance structure.

Track 1 prioritizes scalability and accessibility, while Track 2 prioritizes precision and expanded crediting potential. 

Six Stackable Modules

DREAM is structured around six intervention modules that can be combined to capture the full spectrum of farm-level mitigation:

• Module A (Core — Water Regime): AWD implementation. Mandatory for all projects.

• Module B (Phenology): Shorter-duration varieties to reduce the anaerobic window.

• Module C (Residue Management): Preventing straw burning or anaerobic decay.

• Module D (Nutrient Optimization): Reducing synthetic nitrogen to cut N₂O. Track 2 only for crediting.

• Module E (Biological Oxidation): Microbial inoculants to suppress residual methane.

• Module F (Carbon Amendment): Biochar application for durable carbon removal.

Key stacking rule: you cannot claim methane reductions from residue management or shorter-season varieties unless the water management piece (Module A) is already verified.

Removals from biochar or SOC require concurrent application of Gold Standard's existing PARC and SOC Framework methodologies.

Three Design Choices

Verification from space, checked by people on the ground. 

DREAM makes satellite observation the primary legal evidence for credit generation — drainage events are recorded from orbit, no field visit required.

Local staff periodically take geo-tagged photos of water level indicators as a cross-check.

If the two don't align, the uncertainty margin widens automatically and fewer credits are issued. Scalable, but not a black box.

Credits only for what farmers actually did.

If a dry season naturally drains fields on its own, DREAM discounts the baseline accordingly — the drier the year, the smaller the credit.
In an extreme drought, nothing is issued at all.

This matters for revenue forecasting: income will vary with rainfall unless your project draws from perennial irrigation infrastructure, in which case the adjustment doesn't apply.

The Flowering Lock. 

Rice is highly vulnerable to water stress during the ~20 days around flowering.

To prevent farmers from over-draining fields at the worst agronomic moment just to maximize credits, any drainage detected during this window is automatically excluded from the calculation. 

What This Means for Project Developers

DREAM is the first Gold Standard methodology to formally recognize satellite-based monitoring as the primary verification pathway for rice — not a supplementary tool, but the core legal evidence. 

For aggregators working with smallholder networks in ASEAN, DREAM opens a credible, lower-cost path into the carbon market — but with real constraints to plan around. 

The 60,000 tCO2e Track 1 cap will limit larger programs unless they structure multiple PoAs or plan a Track 2 upgrade early. Revenue will vary with seasonal rainfall, so financial models need to account for drought-year discounts. 

Field staff for ground-truthing is a recurring cost, not a one-time setup. And while stacking modules like residue management or biochar unlocks more credits per hectare, it brings additional compliance obligations. 

Gold Standard is accepting stakeholder feedback through May 22, 2026. 

The consultation specifically asks whether the 60,000 tCO2e cap is set at the right level, whether the weather adjustment mechanism adequately protects environmental integrity, and whether the dual-track structure is equitable for smallholders.

For organizations actively developing or advising rice carbon projects in the region, this is a meaningful window to shape how the final methodology reads.

Looking Ahead

April was a dense month, and we have tried to cover the most important moving parts without losing the thread. 

The market is getting more structured, and that is broadly good news for high-integrity projects, particularly in ASEAN, where rice and forest carbon are both entering more favorable conditions.

We will be back in May with another update. 

In the meantime, if there is a topic you want us to dig into next about CORSIA authorization timelines, specific methodology questions,or bilateral Article 6 developments in the region,  let us know in the comments. We read everything.

Stay tuned for the May edition!