announcement
From Paper to Pixels: Consultation on Developing Digital Infrastructure and APIs for the Carbon Market
A consultation has been launched seeking views on the creation of new digital systems that will support the growth of the voluntary carbon market by integrating digital measurement, reporting and verification.
The Open Collaboration, led by Gold Standard, the IOTA Foundation and ClimateCHECK have today released a new consultation seeking views on proposed recommendations for enabling interoperability and transparency for projects seeking certification for the creation of carbon credits. The consultation, led by the IOTA Foundation as part of the "Digital Infrastructure and APIs" working group, aims to identify initial areas of digital infrastructure for standardisation and establish initial public facing API recommendations for carbon market stakeholders.
Digital transformation is necessary to achieve the increases in speed and reduction in complexity the market needs. This can only be achieved by actors from across the carbon market working together.
The consultation seeks feedback on three areas:
- Digital Infrastructure: To grow efficiently the digital infrastructure in the carbon market should include standard technical elements wherever possible, and interoperability between the data of various stakeholders in the voluntary carbon market should be prioritised. This will facilitate the growth and development of the market while ensuring efficient data exchange, trust, and transparency, ultimately leading to a more streamlined and sustainable market.
- Open APIs or Microservices: Open APIs in the carbon and sustainability markets are important to ensure compliance and promoting collaboration among stakeholders. Standardising definitions and identifying key functions and services for immediate digitisation will ultimately facilitate better data transfer and integration.
- Future Proofing Technologies: To ensure alignment and efficiency in the carbon and sustainability markets over the coming decades it is important to think beyond the initial stages of digital infrastructure and Open APIs. We will need continued growth, adoption and integration of emerging technologies.
We welcome specific feedback from stakeholders, as well as general comments on the approach Gold Standard and Open Collaboration members should take in advancing digital infrastructure to support the growth and scaling of Reporting and Verification processes required for certifying carbon offsets. In some areas, we are interested in stakeholders' opinions on whether our proposed recommendations and the workflows they aim to support are in alignment; in others, we seek information and evidence to inform the standardisation and implementation of our final recommendations.
The consultation, titled “Considerations for Iterative Digital Infrastructure for Carbon Markets” is open until 5 May 2023. As with the previous consultation, this invitation is issued on behalf of the Open Collaboration rather than solely by Gold Standard as a standard-setting body.
