ICAO Council Extends Approval of ART to Supply Credits for Second Phase of CORSIA, Including Removals and HFLD Approaches under TREES

Decision provides long-term market certainty for forest countries and airlines

ARLINGTON, VA — The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) is pleased to announce that at its October 2025 meeting, the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations’ main aviation body, approved ART to supply carbon credits for the Second Phase of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), covering the period 2027–2029.

The decision confirms that all three of ART’s crediting approaches under its TREES standard that were approved for CORSIA’s First Phase continue to be eligible for use in CORSIA’s Second Phase. This includes TREES Credits issued for:

• Emission reductions from reducing deforestation and forest degradation;
• Emission removals from the enhancement of carbon stocks through reforestation and forest restoration; and
• Emission reductions from reducing deforestation and forest degradation in High Forest, Low Deforestation (HFLD) jurisdictions.

This latest approval builds on ICAO’s previous decisions to recognize ART-issued TREES Credits for CORSIA’s Pilot Phase (2021–2023) and First Phase (2024–2026). Taken together, these decisions provide forest jurisdictions and airlines with long-term certainty that ART-issued TREES Credits that meet ICAO’s requirements for avoiding double counting can be sold into the CORSIA market through 2031.

“The ICAO Council’s 2020 decision to approve ART-issued credits for CORSIA marked the first time that national and subnational approaches to protecting and restoring forests were approved for use in a regulated carbon market as allowable ways to achieve global climate mitigation objectives,” said Mary Grady, Executive Director of ART. “Since then, Guyana’s TREES credits have been offered at auction and are the first CORSIA Phase one Eligible credits purchased by airlines for CORSIA compliance. We look forward to continuing to work with leading countries to expand this market as part of our mission to unlock finance at scale for ambitious climate action.”

By reaffirming ART’s eligibility including TREES’ emission reduction, removals and HFLD approaches, the ICAO Council’s decision recognizes the critical role that both protecting and restoring forests can play in delivering significant climate outcomes. ART’s TREES standard provides a transparent, jurisdictional framework for crediting emission reductions and removals from the forest sector, with robust social and environmental safeguards and requirements designed to align with the Paris Agreement.