MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES: STANDARDS MATTER.
With the technical detail involved in designing a project and measuring and verifying its impact, it can be difficult to understand the nuanced but important differences among standards that issue carbon credits. This is particularly important if you’re interested in ensuring that your contribution – your money, to put it simply – delivers as much as it can.
Standards vary in if or how they feature these quality measures. For example, in some standards, safeguards, are optional, not mandatory. So it’s best to understand your priorities and ask some key questions before making your choice in carbon credits.
Our mantra is “making good better.” This means that Gold Standard commits to continue pioneering in climate protection to ensure the most stringent safeguards and the greatest impact delivered for every dollar channeled to projects.
THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Even organisations that are focused on climate impact – or prioritize lowest cost – should take care to ensure that their credits are from a reputable source. You can find a list of reputable organisations in Annex X [LINK TO] of this guide.
Do the carbon credits represent the minimum integrity related to climate impact?
Are they:
CERTIFIED
Certified to an internationally recognised standard
REAL
Real, measurable, and permanent emission reductions
ADDITIONALITY
Additional – emission reductions would not have happened without the project activity, or according to ‘business as usual’
INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED
Independently verified by a third party
UNIQUE
Unique, they are not counted or claimed by another party
TRACEABLE
Traceable, all certified impacts are tracked transparently in a public registry
COMMITTED TO HIGHEST QUALITY + IMPACT IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Many people interested in offsetting are motivated by specific benefits that are important to them, like gender equality, poverty reduction or access to clean water. Others seek to support projects in certain geographies.
To ensure all claims are credible, it’s advisable to understand the rigour around development benefits that a project claims:
- Does the project deliver multiple sustainable development benefits?
- Are those benefits monitored and independently verified?
- Has the project been designed in a gender sensitive way?
PRO TIP Even if you see an SDG icon on marketing material, ask to see monitoring and verification reports for those impacts.
The Gold Standard difference
Credible standards provide quality, independently verified assessments of the emission reductions produced by a project, ie, its climate impact. The Gold Standard goes further and ensures that all its projects meet robust and stringent methodology requirements for sustainable development in the local area.
SAFEGUARDS
It’s andatory (not optional) for ALL Gold Standard projects to follow ALL relevant environmental and safeguarding principles in order to be certified.
STAKEHOLDER INCLUSIVITY
This includes local stakeholder consultations and access to a grievance mechanism in case there are issues with the projects.
GENDER-SENSIVITY
All Gold Standard for the Global Goals projects must follow Gender-sensitive design principles, which is unique to Gold Standard.
PROJECT ELIGIBILITY
Higher-risk project types like fossil fuel switch or large hydro, which are eligible under other voluntary and compliance standards, are not eligible for Gold Standard certification.
VERIFIED SDG IMPACT
Verified SDG impact. ALL Gold Standard projects must deliver impact toward a minimum of 3 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including climate. These SDG benefits vary according to project type and all are verified by an independent third party.
HOW TO CHOOSE BETWEEN DIFFERENT PROJECTS?
Different projects provide different benefits. For example, a large-scale wind project provides more country level benefits such as better access to clean technologies, local employment opportunities, more energy independence and increased social stability. Whereas an improved cookstove project benefits people at a community level. It decreases indoor air pollution, improving health predominantly among women and children. Less wood is required helping to decrease deforestation and saving families money, and less time is needed for collecting wood, providing more opportunities for schooling and social activities.
Here are examples of some typical emission reduction projects and the benefits they deliver:
FORESTRY
This nature-based climate solution not only absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, it creates local jobs in forest management and conserves vital ecosystems--protecting local biodiversity at a time when a million species are in threat of extinction.
COOKSTOVE
More than 3 billion people lack access to clean cooking solutions, leading to over 4 million premature deaths each year. These truly transformational projects help clean the air and save families precious time and money.
WATER
Water is the biggest global risk according to the World Economic Forum. These projects provide access to safe drinking water, improving health and living conditions and eliminating the burden on women and children of fetching water.
BIOGAS
A perfect example of a virtuous circle, biogas projects transform waste to a clean, reliable source of energy. On top of it all, residues from the fermentation process can be used as organic fertilizer, increasing crop growth and yields.
WIND
Beyond harnessing the natural power of the Earth for clean energy, wind projects provide new jobs in the green economy and help developing and middle-income countries become energy-independent.
