Gold Standard publishes two methodologies to channel climate finance towards underserved communities

655 million people lack access to electricity. 2.1 billion lack access to safely managed drinking water. Two new Gold Standard methodologies aim to channel climate finance towards projects tackling these issues.

Gold Standard has today published the Powering Universal Lighting via Solar Energy (PULSE) and Safe Drinking Water Supply (SDWS) methodologies, marking an important step in expanding access to high-integrity climate finance for projects delivering essential services to some of the world's poorest communities.

Both methodologies are aligned with the Paris Agreement and Net Zero trajectories as well as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Paris Agreement alignment requires methodologies to reflect national climate targets and regulatory additionality, apply falling baselines that ensure credits represent real progress, avoid lock-in of technologies inconsistent with necessary decarbonisation, and apply broader leakage accounting across upstream and downstream emissions. PULSE and SDWS embody these principles, introducing enhanced monitoring approaches, stronger safeguards, and improved accessibility across diverse geographies and scales.

Powering Universal Lighting via Solar Energy (PULSE)

The PULSE methodology provides a framework for project developers to generate carbon credits by introducing solar-powered LED lighting to replace fossil fuel-based lighting, such as kerosene or diesel, candles and inefficient torches in off-grid or unreliably connected areas. According to the International Energy Agency, 655 million people globally still lack access to electricity, many of whom rely on polluting fuel-based lighting that generates high concentrations of particulate matter composed mostly of black carbon.

PULSE employs a suppressed demand approach, establishing a Minimum Service Level baseline of 1,000 lumen-hours per day rather than relying on historical poverty-level consumption data. It mandates a 100% asset census using digital MRV systems to track every unit and prevent double-counting and applies a Downward Adjustment Factor (DAF) to keep the crediting baseline aligned with the host country's net zero trajectory. The methodology replaces the legacy AMS-III.AR methodology to align with GS4GG and Paris Agreement alignment requirements.

Safe Drinking Water Supply Version 2.0 (SDWS)

According to the World Health Organisation, 2.1 billion people worldwide still lack access to safely managed drinking water, with significant health and social implications. Gold Standard hosts 364 certified water projects with verified contributions to SDG 6, generating over $1.5 billion of shared value in 2025. The SDWS methodology establishes a rigorous framework to quantify and reward greenhouse gas emissions avoided by replacing high-emission baseline practices with sustainable, low- or zero-emission drinking water supply solutions. It applies in contexts where communities lack access to safe, reliable drinking water and where boiling water with non-renewable biomass or fossil fuels is the primary baseline purification method.

Version 2.0 transitions water projects into the Paris Agreement framework, replacing legacy single-equation baselines with a five-step approach that applies age-specific drinking-water volume caps and a DAF to align crediting with host-country net zero trajectories, and requiring active monitoring of leakage, including whether the introduction of safe water systems causes shifts in biomass or fossil fuel use to adjacent regions, or whether infrastructure setup generates unintended emissions. Digital MRV systems using IoT sensors and cellular water flow tracking provide precision data for buyers and operational insight for project developers.

“Clean water and clean light are not luxuries; they are foundations for health, education and economic opportunity. PULSE and SDWS are designed to channel climate finance directly to the communities that need it most, while maintaining the rigour and integrity that buyers and host countries depend on. That these methodologies can scale to reach hundreds of millions of people is not incidental to their design; it is the point."  

Sarah Leugers, Chief Growth Officer, Gold Standard