Gold Standard is an ISEAL-code compliant standard setting organisation and thought leader that promotes the best that can be achieved in climate and development projects. Established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs as a best practice standard to ensure projects that reduced carbon emissions under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) also delivered additional sustainable development benefits, Gold Standard now has 2000+ projects underway in over 90 countries, creating billions of dollars of shared value from climate and development action worldwide.
Gold Standard’s legacy work focused on ensuring environmental integrity and sustainable development in carbon markets. We are expanding our focus to sustainable finance, providing tools to support impact investors (e.g., philanthropic foundations, corporates, development agencies, governments, or pension funds etc) to credibly manage, measure, and maximise impact toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In collaboration with an expert Working Group and built on approaches developed by OECD for Impact Fund Compliance, IFC Compliance, SDG Impact, and others, we have developed new Fund Requirements for Certification to Gold Standard for the Global Goals. These new process-centric Requirements guide Fund Managers and Investors in best practices for designing funds, implementing investment decisions, and measuring impact for credible, certified impact statements.
These Requirements for Fund Certification are intended to be integrated into our core standard "Gold Standard for The Global Goals".
We are seeking public input on these Requirements to ensure their integrity, quality, and practicality.
How to submit your consultation
Gold Standard is seeking public input on these Requirements to ensure their integrity, quality, and practicality. The draft requirements are embedded in the form link below. To access, simply click the link, add your basic details and click next. The form sets out the draft Requirements in sections and invites comments in response to specific questions. You may save your responses if you cannot complete the survey in one sitting.
We invite comments and feedback via the online form below until 31 March 2022.
NEXT STEPS: During the consultation period, Gold Standard and partners will work on defining the third-party auditing and assurance process and will develop guidance materials to further support the application of these Requirements.
Once the consultation period closes, we will review inputs, finalise Requirements and begin piloting these requirements and the assurance process. Outcomes from the piloting phase will also further inform amendments for wider use of the standard.
If you are interested in participating in the pilot process, please contact us.