Climate Security and Sustainable Development

We are fast approaching a tipping point for global temperature rise, highlighting the need for climate pledges to be turned into action, with growing ambition. The plans of governments across the world to significantly cut emissions and reach net-zero by 2050 can only be achieved with scaled-up flows of finance.

As compliance and voluntary carbon markets converge, and as the need for sustainable investment grows greater, Gold Standard is working with governments across the world to steer finance towards climate and sustainable development impact through our internationally renowned standard.

Gold Standard for the Global Goals is being applied by governments to deliver national climate objectives through carbon markets and other financial mechanisms, to certify climate impacts under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

A proven track record of impact measurement and management with use by nearly 500 project developers to design and implement more than 2900 projects in over 100 countries across the world, all recorded in our public registry. Gold Standard-certified projects span all sizes, continents, and multiple sectors, including community services, reforestation, waste management, renewable energy, agriculture and more.

Gold Standard is trusted as a benchmark for quality in carbon markets. All of our certified projects meet high standards for environmental integrity, directly contribute to at least three Sustainable Development Goals, and are grounded in robust safeguards and inclusivity principles.  

We are recognised under ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), as well as national carbon pricing policies in Colombia, Singapore and South Africa. Our work on sustainable development and safeguard provisions are recognised as market-leading by the Oeko Institute, as is our work to ensure the consideration and integration of gender provisions in all our projects, by ASEAN Low Carbon Energy Programme.  

We are also independently assessed as a leading global standard for principles and governance by EY, commissioned by Australian Climate Change Authority. Gold Standard is also the first and only climate-centred standard to be ISEAL Code Compliant.    

Gold Standard’s systems and processes allow for third-party validation and verification of projects by expert auditors across the world, with a transparent and publicly available record of all projects and certified impacts on the Gold Standard Impact Registry. This is coupled with rules and registry functionality that can support the generation of credits authorised for use under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. All the principles, requirements and methodologies of our standard, Gold Standard for the Global Goals, are publicly available.