Carbon standards

A carbon credit standard is a set of rules, procedures, and approved monitoring methodologies under which certified carbon credits are quantified and issued.

A monitoring methodology is the set of parameters, criteria, and operations needed to calculate emission reductions from a carbon project during its lifetime.

Carbon credit registries contain public information used to track crediting projects and issue carbon credits for each unit of avoided emission or enhanced removal that is verified and certified. They are vital in creating a credible carbon credit commodity.

In a carbon credit registry, a serial number is assigned to each verified carbon credit. When a credit is sold, the serial number for the credit is transferred from the account of the seller to the account of the buyer. If the buyer “uses” the credit(s) by claiming the avoided emissions or enhanced removals against their own emissions, the registry retires the serial number so that the credit cannot be resold. In this manner, registries reduce the risk of double counting i.e having multiple stakeholders take credit for the same credit.

One of the main carbon credit registries is Verra.