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Increasing investment to bankable projects

As the world prepares for Articles 6 and 9 of the Paris Agreement, Gold Standard seeks to help host countries create optimal enabling conditions to attract climate finance and access global voluntary and compliance carbon markets.
To support countries in accessing climate + development finance and deliver progress toward the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, Gold Standard is working with partners to develop an integrated Measuring Reporting and Verification (MRV) framework based in the principles and infrastructure of Gold Standard for the Global Goals, customised for an individual country’s needs. The framework will ensure that national NDC and SDG priorities, investor requirements, and carbon market access permissions are all included in ex-ante project design. Ex-post MRV verifies (or certifies as desired) credible environmental and sustainable development project impacts.
 
The result is a roadmap for bankable projects and for streamlined, credible impact reporting aligned with national NDC and SDG priorities and compliant with international investor and carbon market requirements.

 

For investors, Gold Standard works to include safeguards, stakeholder engagement, global methodologies, and solid MRV as part of investment criteria. The result is de-risked investments, and assurance for private finance and public fund taxpayers that their investments achieve ambitious and verifiable financial, environmental, and social returns.  

DE-RISKING PROJECT INVESTMENT

Projects are assessed against the non-financial assessment criteria, based on the UNDP’s safeguarding principles, and risks are identified, mitigated and monitored over time. Comprehensive stakeholder mapping and consultations feed into the project design, creating strategic buy-in from relevant stakeholders and mitigating potential future risks that could threaten an investment and overall project success.

ROBUST GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Standard requirements include criteria to assess governance capabilities and structure, including investment planning, inter-institutional coordination, track-record of implementing similar projects, as well as management systems, including clearly designated roles and responsibilities and capacity building.

VERIFIED OUTCOMES FOR GREATER ASSURANCE + BRAND VALUE

SDG impacts can be monitored at a programme or portfolio level without losing focus on the individual outcomes and stories behind each project. Annual MRV provides assurance that desired outcomes from investments are achieved.

PROJECT AGGREGATION FOR COST EFFICIENCIES

Gold Standard for the Global Goals can serve as an aggregation tool for multiple projects, reducing development and monitoring costs and improving the risk-return profile of the programme or portfolio.

Impact certification can fulfill different needs. A funder can seek impact certification of a programme, portfolio or fund simply to be able to credibly quantify and report the contributions delivered toward climate security and sustainable development.  

If an investor or partner wishes to monetise their impacts, such as by issuing carbon credits or renewable energy certificates for trading, they must follow further requirements (e.g. demonstrate additionality in the case of carbon credits) and globally accepted methodologies to be eligible under relevant environmental markets.

With either approach, funders, investors and the projects they support are assured to have made meaningful, verified contributions to a more climate-secure and sustainable world.