Overview

Description

The Gold Standard was established in 2003 by international NGOs including the World Wildlife Fund as a crediting mechanism for additional certification on the social and environmental impacts of Certified Emission Reductions and later as an issuer of its own credits. It has requirements that projects must generate sustainable development benefits, such as gender equality and health improvements for local communities, alongside emission reductions. There are also strict safeguards against negative project impacts, based on best-practice international standards such as from the IFC.

Recent Developments

Notable developments in 2022 included the introduction of mandatory use of a sustainable development goal (SDG) tool to support standardized reporting of SDG impacts, introduction of new registry functionality and requirements to support use of Article 6, and the launch of working groups and consultations on digitization of the carbon market, including digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) and digital infrastructure and tokenization. In addition, Gold Standard introduced multiple new methodologies to enable crediting activities, including for electric two- and three-wheeled transportation, carbon sequestration through concrete aggregate, the paper and pulp sector, and its first clean cooking methodology integrating digital MRV to enable real-time measurement of energy use.

Relation to Compliance Carbon Pricing Instruments or other Voluntary Schemes in the country

Colombia carbon tax, CORSIA, South Africa carbon tax

Eligible Activities

Agriculture

Energy Efficiency / Fuel Switching

Forestry / Land Use

Fugitive Emissions

Renewable energy

Waste