Carbon Credit Measurement, Reporting and Verification

2. Van Butsic
Principal Scientist
Carbon Direct
Jesse Klein
Senior Editor
GreenBiz
Carlos Silva
Remote Sensing
Scientist
Pachama
MODERATOR
Daniel Magrath
Core
Responsibilities
Manager
Gold Standard
Carbon Credit Measurement,
Reporting and Verification

3. Carbon Markets MRV

4. INTRODUCTION TO GOLD STANDARD
Gold Standard for
the Global Goals
• Independent, non-profit
standard
• SDG impacts core to each
project
Rigorous
methodologies
• 30+ methodologies
• Across land use and forestry,
energy and community services
High-impact
activities
• 2300+ projects in over
100 countries
• With 350 project
developers
Climate and
development
impacts
• 200m+ tonnes of CO2
reduced
• $36bn in shared value

5. In order to incentivize more companies to invest their
finances in the carbon markets we must ensure high quality
carbon credits through proper MRV
Eligibility principle and
requirements
P 1
–Contribution to climate
security & Sustainable
development
Baseline Assessment
SDG 13+ two SDGs
P 2 –
Safeguarding Principles
Safeguarding principles
and requirements
P 3-
Stakeholder Inclusivity
Stakeholder consultation
and engagement
requirements
P-4
Demonstration of real
outcomes
Ex-post MRV
P -5 Additionality
Impact additionality
Gender equality
requirements
Monitoring
Reporting Verification
Assurance to
businesses

6. www.goldstandard.org @goldstandard help@goldstandard.org
OUR CERTIFICATION PROCESS
Project
planning
Stakeholder
Consultation
& Safeguards
Preliminary
Review
Validation
Design
Review
Verification
Performance
review
Renewal
(validation)
Renewal
(Design
Certification)
Once per
project
At least twice
per crediting
period
Every crediting
period
Listed project
Certified design
Certified project
VVB CB

7. www.goldstandard.org @goldstandard help@goldstandard.org
In order to improve MRV we must look to create efficiencies
and reduce inaccuracies
Digital MRV
More accurate
baselines
Work with latest
good practices

8. DR. VAN BUTSIC
PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST
8

9. Carbon Direct is on a mission to help
organizations take meaningful action
to stop climate change with science,
data, and policy-backed strategies to
measure, reduce, and remove carbon.
OUR
MISSION
Copyright Carbon Direct Inc. 2023

10. Carbon Direct: end-to-end carbon management solutions for every step
Measure
Analyze your emissions makeup.
Prioritize where to take action.
Track & report
Track what matters with high
fidelity reports. Share your
impact with stakeholders.
Understand
Get insights from our experts
to build your strategy.
Remove
Purchase high-quality removal
portfolios from the best,
scientifically vetted supply.
Reduce
Reduce emissions across
your operations.
10
Copyright Carbon Direct Inc. 2023

11. Not all credits are equal.
Most credits on the market are low quality due
to flawed protocols and methodologies. 3rd party
certification alone does not guarantee quality.
11
ONLY 3%
of credits in the voluntary carbon market are pure
removals, which is where our supply comes from.
Copyright Carbon Direct Inc. 2023

12. Our scientific rigor produces quality
credits across all dimensions.
12
Criteria for
High-Quality Carbon
Dioxide Removal
Copyright Carbon Direct Inc. 2023
Create outcomes that would not have occurred otherwise.
Are verifiable.
Cause no harm to local communities.
Account for environmental justice.
Are durable.
Have low risk of leakage.

13. Digital MRV is essential to all quality criteria
13
Create outcomes that would not have occurred
otherwise.
Are verifiable.
Cause no harm to local communities.
Account for environmental justice.
Are durable.
Have low risk of leakage.
Remote sensing and models
Digital workflows that enhance transparency, lower
cost, and increase efficiency.
Documenting changes in economic conditions,
pollutants, water and air quality.
Continuous monitoring of carbon storage.
Digital engagement with stakeholders
Remote sensing and models, digital market data
Copyright Carbon Direct Inc. 2023

14. Copyright Carbon Direct Inc. 2023

15. Modernizing carbon markets:
digital measurement,
reporting, and verification
GreenBiz ‘23 | Carlos Silva, Remote Sensing Scientist at Pachama

16. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL 16
SOURCE: Griscom, et al. PNAS (2017).
Nature can be a critical
climate solution

17. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL 17
Current market size
Crediting today is <1% of global fossil fuel emissions
SOURCE: Ecosystem Marketplace State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets (2022).
But carbon markets need to rapidly scale

18. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL 18
Modernizing carbon markets
with DMRV
Digital Measurement Reporting Verification

19. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
What does a
digital future
look like?
19
High Quality
Transparent
Scalable

20. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
Current Model Digital Solutions
20
What can be digitized?
Manually Gathering Data
Human Calculations
Auditing Projects Auditing Systems
Gathering Data with Satellites
Machine Calculations
Static Documents Interactive, Digital Visualization

21. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL 21
Core crediting
technology
Pachama is developing core technology to
digitally compute carbon credits

22. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL 22
Total
Credits = Project
Emissions
Baseline
Emissions
Leakage
Emissions
- -
Uncertainty Adjusted
Transparent, simplified crediting in a single equation

23. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL 23
x
Total
Credits = Project
Emissions
Uncertainty Adjusted
- Baseline
Emissions - Leakage
Emissions
Core Crediting Equation Project
=

24. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL 24
Core Crediting Equation Baseline
Total
Credits = Project
Emissions
Uncertainty Adjusted
- Baseline
Emissions - Leakage
Emissions
x =

25. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL 25
Core Crediting Equation Leakage
Total
Credits = Project
Emissions
Uncertainty Adjusted
- Baseline
Emissions - Leakage
Emissions
x =

26. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL 26
Third-Party Software Audit
Certification Auditing
Pachama
DMRV
Pachama Project
Developer Portal
Forest Cover Mapping
Baseline Mapping
Carbon Mapping
Registry Credit Issuance
Pachama Marketplace
An integrated
digital platform