Calyx Global Platform now makes it easier to understand the robustness of the carbon crediting programs behind carbon credits. Our assessments are based on a framework that evaluates 31 best-practice criteria encompassing areas such as governance, transparency, auditing procedures and registry operations. Programs are rated as gold, silver, bronze, or fail, reflecting their adherence to these quality criteria.

Our carbon crediting program screenings can be used by:

• Carbon credit buyers: to ensure credits they purchase are issued from a program that meets a minimum bar;
• Carbon project investors: to ensure their investments are registered under programs that meet key criteria.

To date, we’ve fully assessed 11 carbon crediting programs, including:

• ACR
• Architecture for REDD+ Transactions
• BCarbon
• Clean Development Mechanism
• Climate Action Reserve
• Ecosystem Restoration Standard
• Gold Standard
• Open Carbon Protocol
• puro.earth
• REDD.plus
• Verified Carbon Standard

We are in the process of updating our assessments of another nine programs based on the most recent standards and documentation available.

The makeup of the VCM

The voluntary carbon market (VCM) is a multi-tiered mechanism composed of various actors who all play crucial roles in its successful functioning:

• Carbon crediting programs maintain a Standard (set of rules for certifying credits), approve methodologies, and operate (or contract with) a registry to uniquely identify, record and track credits.
• Project developers design, develop and manage projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions, using methodologies approved by carbon crediting programs.
• Validation & Verification bodies ensure that these projects meet the requirements laid out by the standard adopted by the carbon crediting program, as well as an approved methodology.
• Corporate or individual buyers purchase carbon credits to offset their emissions and support sustainability initiatives.

These gears are separate by design, although they must work in unison. Keeping these functions separate helps to avoid conflicts of interest within a single organization, and thus supports building a market that can generate high-quality emission reductions or removals that accelerate global efforts to combat climate change.

Recently, the VCM has seen a rapid increase in new carbon crediting programs. A recent study found there were over 30 new entrants in the last 5 years[1]. However, a small handful still dominate the voluntary carbon market.

Timeline

Calyx Global crediting program assessments

To date, Calyx Global has focused its public communications on its project-level ratings. Behind the scenes, however, we have long used this system to establish a minimum standard of governance for the carbon crediting program (i.e., we only assess credits issued by a program that meets a minimum bar). 

Our carbon crediting program screenings address 31 criteria that ensure programs issuing the credits we rate meet a minimum standard. These include how well programs are governed, their rules and processes, their level of transparency and stakeholder participation, and whether they require independent third-party validation and verification. We also evaluate how they manage their registries — whether there is a secure, transparent system for issuing, transferring and retiring credits. For buyers of credits, it is critical that such programs are trustworthy and reliable.

Our screening approach is aligned with the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) approach to evaluate program governance. However, in addition to the four categories that the ICVCM considers (see table below), we also assess the program’s rules and procedures, and their requirements involving stakeholder engagement. While the ICVCM only assesses programs that apply to the ICVCM, Calyx Global rates all programs — particularly those in which our customers show an interest.

Calyx Global’s screening system places programs into one of three categories: gold, silver or bronze. Programs can also “fail,” meaning they do not meet minimum requirements. Six key criteria must be met for a program to pass. The remaining 25 criteria in our screening are considered “best practice,” and the level to which programs meet these criteria results in their scoring and categorization. Programs that meet an inadequate number of “best practice” criteria will also fail the screening.

Carbon crediting program screenings are available to Calyx Global Platform subscribers. If you’re not yet a subscriber, reach out to learn more.

____________________________________________________________________________

[1] HAMERKOP Climate Impacts. (2024). 65 Carbon Certification Standards? What is going on in the carbon market?! Accessible at: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hamerkop_65-carbon-certification-standards-what-is-activity-7272189442809860097-ZioD/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop