Bain & Company: the first organization to make the highest Carbon Integrity Claim | VCMI

INSIGHT by the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative (VCMI)

Bain & Company makes a Carbon Integrity Platinum Claim, demonstrating its progress on internal decarbonization and going above and beyond with investment in high-integrity carbon credits.

The Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative (VCMI) has announced that global management consultancy, Bain & Company, is the first organization to make a Carbon Integrity Platinum Claim. The Platinum Claim is the highest Carbon Integrity Claim. This claim requires the purchase and retirement of high-quality carbon credits in an amount equal to or greater than 100% of a company’s remaining emissions. By achieving a Carbon Integrity Platinum Claim, Bain & Company are demonstrating significant internal decarbonization, as well as a high-level of investment in high-integrity carbon credits. Through these investments, Bain & Company are delivering finance into projects that are proven to reduce global emissions, and benefit both people and the planet.

Through VCMI’s Claims Code of Practice (Claims Code), companies can make a Carbon Integrity Claim. To showcase increasing levels of climate achievement, companies and non-state actors can make three distinct Carbon Integrity Claims – Silver, Gold, and Platinum – to demonstrate they are going above and beyond their science-aligned emissions cuts. By making a Carbon Integrity Claim, a company leverages high-quality carbon credits to contribute to their climate action, helping to accelerate global net zero.

The Claims Code provides clear and transparent guidelines to companies so that they can engage in voluntary carbon markets with confidence and brings credibility to the claims companies make that involve the use of carbon credits.   

Along with a wide range of stakeholders, Bain & Company was a part of VCMI’s consultations in 2023, through the Stakeholder Forum and Early Adopters Program (EAP) as VCMI worked towards finalizing its Claims Code. This collaborative approach has helped create a robust Claims Code and a framework for companies to make high-integrity claims about their use of carbon credits.

There are four steps to make a Carbon Integrity Claim and companies must provide information relating to the Claims Code’s Foundational Criteria. These criteria establish best practice on corporate climate action and require firms to disclose their emissions, commit to Net Zero, set science aligned near-term emission reduction targets, demonstrate progress towards those targets and show that the company’s public policy advocacy supports the goals of the Paris Agreement.   

In addition to complying with VCMI’s Foundational Criteria, the company must meet requirements around the purchase of high-quality carbon credits through the use of Core Carbon Principle (CCP)-approved credits. Until CCP-approved credits become available in the market, companies can either purchase and retire CORSIA eligible credits or disclose how their due diligence processes align with all 10 CCPs. The Monitoring, Reporting and Assurance (MRA) Framework enables companies to substantiate a Carbon Integrity Claim, outlining specific information that must be disclosed by the company and appropriately evaluated, evidenced, and assured.

VCMI is working with other global companies in 2024 to make further Carbon Integrity Claims and welcomes the interest of companies seeking to engage in high-integrity carbon markets.

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The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) is the issuing body behind the ‘Carbon Integrity’ mark. It is an international non-profit organization with a mission to enable high-integrity voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) that deliver real and additional benefits to the atmosphere, help protect nature, and accelerate the transition to ambitious, economy-wide climate policies and regulation.   

Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world’s most ambitious change makers define the future.  Across 65 cities in 40 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Our 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today’s urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. We earned a platinum rating from EcoVadis, the leading platform for environmental, social, and ethical performance ratings for global supply chains, putting us in the top 1% of all companies. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry.