Zimbabwe’s fast growing carbon market is facing a fresh credibility test after a dispute erupted over whether cookstove credits transferred into the country’s national registry can already be marketed as “CORSIA-eligible” before formal approval from the aviation sector’s global regulator.

At the centre of the controversy are credits issued under Gold Standard for Zimbabwean clean cooking projects, including the TASC cookstove initiative, which were later moved into the Zimbabwe Carbon Registry under the country’s evolving carbon market framework.

The disagreement has exposed growing tensions between voluntary carbon standards, national registry systems, and the rules governing the aviation industry’s carbon offsetting mechanism known as CORSIA.

Market participants say the issue boils down to one critical distinction: being authorised and correspondingly adjusted under Zimbabwe’s domestic carbon rules is not necessarily the same thing as being approved for use under CORSIA.

That distinction matters because airlines participating in CORSIA can only use credits from programmes formally recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organization through its Technical Advisory Body process.

Zimbabwe is not yet across that finish line.

ICAO documents show that the Zimbabwe Carbon Markets Authority is among 25 programmes currently applying for assessment during the 2026 review cycle. Public consultations on the applications closed on 18 May 2026, with assessments set to continue throughout the year. ICAO has not yet announced any approval decision for Zimbabwe’s registry framework.

Yet some project developers and market actors have continued positioning the transferred credits as potentially suitable for CORSIA use, triggering confusion across the carbon market and prompting criticism from traders and analysts.

The debate intensified after reports emerged that credits from a Zimbabwe cookstove project had been removed from the Gold Standard registry while the owner still sought to market them as “CORSIA-eligible.” Critics argued that registry tagging alone could not confer compliance status before ICAO approval was complete.

The dispute reflects the broader transition now reshaping global carbon markets as host governments increasingly seek tighter control over carbon assets generated within their borders.

In Zimbabwe’s case, the shift began in 2023 when the government introduced a controversial revenue sharing policy for carbon credits, prompting Gold Standard to temporarily pause issuances from projects in the country.

The framework evolved further in 2025. Gold Standard guidance now states that all Zimbabwean projects issued GS VERs from 2 May 2025 onward must transfer those credits into the Zimbabwe Carbon Registry under the country’s statutory requirements.

That move was designed to align projects with Zimbabwe’s corresponding adjustment system and sovereign oversight ambitions. But it also created a grey area for international buyers trying to determine whether those credits could immediately qualify for aviation compliance markets.

Traders say buyers are increasingly scrutinising the precise legal and registry status of credits originating from Zimbabwe, particularly where CORSIA claims are involved. For airlines and compliance buyers, the safest interpretation remains that “Zimbabwe registry tagged” does not automatically mean “CORSIA-eligible” until ICAO formally completes its assessment.