Challenges
Carbon Neutral, Climate Neutral, Net Zero, Climate Positive: How do we identify when double counting or double claiming poses a real threat to environmental integrity, or when this represents appropriate attribution and benefit-sharing? Claims Labs are establishing guiding principles and criteria when co-claiming climate benefits in shared interventions.
There are significant challenges behind climate claims, including:
- Lack of definitions, rules, and requirements behind climate claims
- Lack of robust, measured data to back up claims
- Confusion behind group vs product claims and interlinkages between the two
- Lack of specific rules on how to ‘co-claim interventions’ and allocate benefits to each claim and its impacts (Value Chain joint claims)


Scope & Objective
The current Claims Lab aims to address these challenges, with a focus on co-claiming impact in shared interventions.
Throughout the series, lab participants work together to:
- Build capacity for companies and partners on shared value chain interventions and co-claiming definitions
- Share co-claiming best practices, do’s and don’ts, as well as learnings from interventions, including pilots
- Collectively identify key reporting and attribution challenges considering co-claiming in value chain interventions concepts
- Propose and validate innovative co-claiming solutions to selected challenges identified, frame data driven and science-based solutions towards adoption (at standard or regulation level)
- Propose sector-specific adaptations for VCI Guidance, while identifying future areas of work for the sector and VCI
Approach and Timeline
Claims Labs are collaborative spaces where Value Change Initiative members come together to discuss and address key topics related to Claims.
They are structured to work towards outputs in 5 sessions, with feedback requested between sessions. Labs usually run every year over a period of 9 months.


Pricing
Labs are available to all VCI Members for an annual membership fee based on organisations’ revenue (see table below).
In addition to Labs, VCI members have access to the VCI Platform – including all publications and outputs from previous and ongoing workstreams – as well as quarterly updates, learning sessions and other events. Onboarding sessions are offered and include an in-depth presentation of Value Change Guidance documents and concepts.
More than €100 million revenue | €6000 | $6000 |
Less than €100 million revenue | €2400 | $2400 |
Less than €10 million revenue | €1200 | $1200 |
Less than €1 million revenue | €600 | $600 |
Organizations located in LDCs | €100 | $100 |
