SHOWDOWN: Corresponding Adjustments: Necessary or Overkill?

About this episode

The episode discusses the necessity of corresponding adjustments in voluntary carbon markets and features experts debating their importance for integrity versus potential financial constraints.

CDR Policy Scoop is back with our next SHOWDOWN, this time on one of the hottest fault lines in carbon markets: should voluntary offsetting require corresponding adjustments? As Article 6 implementation moves forward, the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) faces a pivotal question: are corresponding adjustments NECESSARY for integrity, or OVERKILL, creating a constraint that could choke much‑needed finance for mitigation and removals? There's a clear rule that corresponding adjustments are required for CORSIA compliance and when credits count toward another country’s NDC, but should that same bar apply when companies use credits for offsetting and net-zero claims? In the “Necessary” Corner: Olga Gassan‑zade, former chair of the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4 Supervisory Body and leading expert on carbon markets and international climate policy, arguing that corresponding adjustments are needed to avoid double counting and align the VCM with the Paris Agreement. In the “Overkill” Corner: Johan Börje from Stockholm Exergi, who very successfully convinced buyers that finance stacking without corresponding adjustments is essential right now. He brings the perspective of a pioneering CDR…

People in this episode

Hosts: Eve Tamme, Sebastian Manhart

Guests: Olga Gassan‑zade, Johan Börje

Topics covered

• carbon markets
• voluntary offsetting
• corresponding adjustments
• climate policy
• net-zero claims
• double counting

Keywords

• carbon markets
• voluntary offsetting
• corresponding adjustments
• CORSIA
• Paris Agreement
• net-zero
• double counting
• climate policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CORSIA, Paris Agreement, Stockholm Exergi

More episodes of The CDR Policy Scoop

• Taking Stock: The State of CDR - Fireside Chat with Oliver Geden · June 8, 2026 · 30 min
• The State of CDR 2026: The CDR Policy Scoop Verdict · June 2, 2026 · 29 min
• LULUCF, Carbon Farming and the CRCF Review - with Asger Strange Olesen · May 24, 2026 · 27 min
• Live from Brussels: Does the EU Buyers' Club Have What it Takes? · May 21, 2026 · 31 min
• CBAM and International Credits: What’s Just Changed? - with Dan Maleski · May 15, 2026 · 26 min
• The World's First International CDR Transfers: Lessons from the Inside - with Veronika Elgart and Ane Gjengedal · May 14, 2026 · 42 min