The Climate Action Reserve (the Reserve) has taken an important step toward operationalizing its insurance pathway for Climate Reserve Tonnes (CRTs) eligible for use under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), while strengthening existing requirements to prevent double claiming.

Criteria for Approved Insurance Mechanisms under CORSIA

The Reserve has published the Criteria for Approved Insurance Mechanisms under CORSIA covering Climate Reserve Tonnes (CRTs) from 2021 onward and setting out the requirements that apply when project developers use an insurance mechanism to support the compensation obligations associated with CRTs for CORSIA use. The Reserve developed this framework in partnership with global insurance intermediary Howden.

An insurance mechanism may be relevant if the host country does not authorize a corresponding adjustment; authorization is withdrawn, revoked, reduced or otherwise modified; or the Reserve is unable to confirm that a corresponding adjustment has been applied.

The insurance route gives project developers and buyers a path to CORSIA eligibility prior to the host country’s Biennial Transparency Report, while providing assurance that credits will not be double claimed.

Updated crediting labelling process

In parallel, the Reserve has updated credit labels to provide greater transparency regarding the status of the credits, and to incorporate the insurance pathway.

Under the Reserve’s updated labelling framework, CRTs can be labelled as ‘Article 6 Authorized’ once a host country issues a Letter of Authorization committing to apply the corresponding adjustment; the Article 6 Authorized label is a prerequisite for CRTs to receive the CORSIA Eligible-Authorized label. For CRTs to receive the CORSIA Eligible-Authorized label, the project developer must also submit the Approved Insurance Mechanism and associated Deed of Undertaking to the Reserve, along with the Request for CRTs to be Designated as CORSIA Eligible-Authorized form.

To review the updated credit labelling process in detail, please see the related Policy Memorandum published 14 August 2026.

What’s Coming Next

The Reserve is finalizing two remaining components of the insurance pathway, which are expected to be published in the coming weeks:

• A list of approved insurance products, being assessed by Howden, that meet the Reserve’s criteria and can be used to support CORSIA Eligible-Authorized designations.
• A CORSIA Deed of Undertaking for project developers, formalizing their commitment to compensate for affected credits in the event a corresponding adjustment is not applied.

Together, these measures establish the core framework for the Reserve’s insurance pathway and provide project developers and buyers with greater clarity on how CRTs can progress toward use for CORSIA obligations while maintaining safeguards against double claiming.

Questions can be directed to Reserve@climateactionreserve.org.