Views sought on Governance of MRV Methodologies and Digital Infrastructure as Public Goods in the Carbon Market

A consultation has been launched on a framework, inspired by systems in open-source programming communities, aimed at speeding up methodology development within the carbon market

The Open Collaboration, led by Gold Standard, the IOTA Foundation and ClimateCHECK are consulting on proposed framework that aims to improve the speed and reliability of methodology development within the Carbon Market. The consultation, led by the IOTA Foundation as part of the "Digital Infrastructure and APIs" working group, aims to improve data quality, interoperability and accessibility, as well as lower transaction costs for those working on climate and development projects.

The processes outlined could drastically reduce friction in the creation of new methodologies for verification of impact across projects. Ultimately, this could shorten the time required for issuance of carbon credits or sustainability impacts outside of the carbon market, benefiting both project developers and purchasers of credits.

The model proposed draws from existing industry models, including the Python programming communities Python Enhancement Proposal, and the Ethereum Improvement Proposal process.

The consultation, titled “Considerations for Governance of MRV Methodologies and Infrastructure as Public Goods” is open until 25 February It details proposals to make the process for developing new methodologies within the Carbon Market more autonomous, introducing a new “submission hub” which will reduce friction in the development of new methodologies for verification of impact across projects, and ultimately shorten the timescale required for earning carbon credits.

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.

This consultation is published on behalf of the Open Collaboration, and not by Gold Standard in its own capacity as a standard-setting body.

Gold Standard, IOTA Foundation and ClimateCHECK are working together in an Open Collaboration aimed at improving the supply side, demand side, and interoperability of the carbon market. In August 2022 they launched three working groups consisting of a broad range of stakeholders including market participants, technical experts and sustainability leaders to address these challenges and develop outputs for the public good. The Open Collaboration is supported by Google Charitable Giving.

About IOTA Foundation

The IOTA Foundation (www.iota.org) is a global non-profit foundation that develops next-generation decentralized technologies for a new digital economy in a connected world. It redesigns the way people and devices connect to share information and value, removing middlemen. The Foundation collaborates with a global ecosystem and partners to research and develop technologies that deliver sustainable, real-world impact. Together, they are shaping a new digital economy, removing unnecessary friction and unlocking human potential. At the heart of the Foundation's mission is the Tangle, its open, feeless and highly scalable distributed ledger. Designed to support frictionless value and data transfer, the Tangle is a DLT infrastructure for Web3 applications and digital economies. Unlike blockchain alternatives, the Tangle allows transactions to be added in parallel; it also boasts low resource requirements, as well as zero-fee and fast transactions with finality within seconds. The IOTA token is the native currency on the IOTA network. It is used to transfer value and data and enable feeless micro-payments.

About ClimateCHECK

ClimateCHECK (www.climate-check.com, @climatecheck) was launched in 2007 to advance the state of the art for measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) and has since delivered innovative solutions for climate change and sustainability to over 400 organizations in over 50 countries. ClimateCHECK’s track record involves co-founding leading organizations including the GHG Management Institute, Xpansiv, and the Climate Chain Coalition. ClimateCHECK and IOTA co-developed the innovative Digital MRV solution to generate trusted data-driven value for climate change and sustainability stakeholders.