Singapore, Verra and Gold Standard Partner to Develop Playbook for Carbon Crediting

Singapore, Verra and Gold Standard Partner to Develop Playbook for Carbon Crediting Under the Paris Agreement

Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) and the world’s largest independent carbon crediting programs – Gold Standard and Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program – today announced a collaboration to support countries better leverage and utilize carbon crediting programs to achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. Together, these organizations will develop a playbook outlining consistent and streamlined standard operating procedures that countries can use to increase their use of existing carbon crediting programs to achieve and exceed their NDCs.

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement allows governments and private sector participants to cooperate internationally through market-based mechanisms to pursue their climate targets. Governments can work through existing carbon crediting programs to certify their emission reductions and removals thereby relieving administrative burdens and accelerating the achievement of their NDCs.

Independent carbon crediting programs such as Verra and Gold Standard are available, operational, and increasingly used by corporations and other investors to mobilize the flow of carbon finance from the private sector to developing countries. Creating effective and consistent processes for these existing standards can save countries significant time, money, and additional resources in the development of their own programs.

Currently, how governments and carbon crediting programs should work together under Article 6 is still being defined, and this may lead to divergent approaches which could hinder its implementation. This collaboration aims to avoid that by defining the respective roles of national registries and crediting program registries, detailing how information should be exchanged, and offering harmonized approaches to implement and comply with Article 6 rules.

The three organizations will engage and seek feedback from other countries and independent carbon crediting programs, with the aim of completing the playbook by mid-2024.

Benedict Chia, Director-General (Climate Change), National Climate Change Secretariat, Singapore, said: “High-integrity carbon markets are needed to support collective efforts to advance global climate action. Robust and effective carbon credits projects can also benefit host countries through investments, jobs creation, and achievement of sustainable development goals. Singapore supports the development of frameworks to facilitate international climate change cooperation amongst countries and stakeholders under Article 6, to keep the goals of the Paris Agreement within reach.”

Judith Simon, President and Interim CEO of Verra, said: “The ongoing Article 6 debate is in urgent need of practical experience, concrete processes, and tangible progress. For 15 years, Verra has been building an ecosystem of processes and relationships that supports real climate action and channels considerable private sector finance to sustainable development projects in the global south. This new collaboration will put that experience to use, helping countries use existing and well-established standards to implement Article 6 activities and achieve their own domestic climate goals.”

Margaret Kim, CEO of Gold Standard, said: “As governments around the world ramp up action aimed at achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions it is vital that the values Gold Standard stands for, environmental integrity and sustainable development, are at the core of the carbon market. Through this partnership, we will support national registries to integrate with existing market structures to build a system that works for countries, corporates, and investors -- and most importantly helps money to get to projects that achieve real impact.”

We invite countries interested in participating in this process to contact any of the following parties:

• Hugh Salway, Senior Director, Market Development and Partnerships, Gold Standard, at hugh.salway@goldstandard.org

• Andrew Howard, Senior Director of Climate Policy and Strategy, Verra, at ahoward@verra.org

• National Climate Change Secretariat (Singapore) at climate_cooperation@pmo.gov.sg