Gold Standard launches program to support higher ambition in Paris era carbon markets

Gold Standard, with support from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), is working to define principles and guidance for additionality and higher ambition in international carbon markets. The project is intended to support higher ambition under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and to position buyers and host countries of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) as partners in combating climate change. 

With the impact of climate change accelerating and an emissions gap of 32 GtCO2e, now more than ever, carbon markets need to unlock climate action with high barriers rather than create a race for low hanging fruits. 

The project aims to develop a framework to ensure the additionality and enhanced ambition of market-based international cooperation through inclusion of strong climate mitigation and sustainable development impacts. The framework is intended to support the operationalisation of Article 6 following this year’s COP26 negotiations, informing development of credible, quality international carbon market assets through a process that is transparent, equitable, replicable and delivers maximum impact. 

Gold Standard will also work with ministries in several countries where climate protection projects are expected to take place, as these national governments prepare for cooperative approaches under Article 6. This project is expected to yield best practices to set a higher bar for international carbon markets and catalyse further high-impact finance flows. 

“We are thrilled to bring our 18+ years experience ensuring integrity and maximising development impact in carbon markets to broader scale by helping national governments enhance climate mitigation and deliver sustainable development outcomes,” says Margaret Kim, CEO of Gold Standard. “We believe this project will serve as a best practice demonstration that can inspire other countries to deliver on their climate commitments in a way that contributes to a just transition to net-zero emissions.”

This project supports Gold Standard’s aim to help the world #GrowToZero: To meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of Net-Zero emissions while accelerating progress toward zero extreme poverty, zero hunger, zero biodiversity loss and other ambitious targets. 

About Gold Standard

Gold Standard (@goldstandard) was established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs as a best practice standard to help the world #GrowToZero. All Gold Standard-certified projects and programmes accelerate progress toward the Net-Zero ambition of the Paris Climate Agreement while catalyzing impact toward the broader Sustainable Development Goals. Its standard, Gold Standard for the Global Goals, allows climate and development initiatives to quantify, certify, and maximise their impacts toward climate security and sustainable development. Certification against the standard provides the confidence that these results are measured and verified, enabling credible impact reporting. With ISEAL code compliant status and backed by a broad NGO Supporter Network, Gold Standard has 2000+ projects underway in over 90 countries, creating billions of dollars of shared value from climate and development action worldwide.