Gold Standard (carbon offset standard)
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The Gold Standard (GS), or Gold Standard for the Global Goals, is a
History
The Gold Standard for CDM (GS-CER) was developed in 2003 by
As of October 2018, more than 80 non-profit organizations internationally had officially endorsed the Gold Standard program.[3]
The program is administered by the Gold Standard Foundation, a non-profit foundation under Swiss law that is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.[4] It also employs local experts in Brazil, India, and South Africa.
In July 2008, the Gold Standard Version 2.0 was released, including sets of guidelines and manuals on the GS requirements, toolkits, and other supporting documents to be used by project developers and DOEs. This relegated the previously applicable manuals to Version 1.0. The Version 2.0 also supports
In July 2017, a new version called the Gold Standard for the Global Goals was released, superseding the previous Gold Standards.[5]
Scholarly recognition and criticisms
The Gold Standard is recognized by
Eligibility
To be eligible for Gold Standard Certification, a project must:
- Be a Gold Standard-approved Renewable Energy Supply or End use Energy Efficiency, Afforestation/Reforestation or Agriculture project type
- Be reducing one of the three eligible Green House Gases: Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
- Not employ Official Development Assistance(ODA) under the condition that the credits coming out of the project are transferred to the donor country
- Not be applying for other certifications, to ensure there is no double counting of credits
- Demonstrate its additionality by using the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Large Scale Additionality Tool;[8] and show that the project is not a 'business-as-usual' scenario
- Make a net-positive contribution to the economic as well as the environmental and social welfare of the local population that hosts it, in the form of contributions to a minimum of three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The Gold Standard Registry
Status of projects that apply for Gold Standard can be tracked on its registry.[9] Project Developers, Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) (also known as Validators), Traders and Buyers of credits can open accounts with the registry. There are various publicly available reports.
See also
References
- ^ "FAQ about Offsetting & the Voluntary Carbon Market". www.act4.io. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
- ^ "carbonfootprint.com - Carbon Offset Standards". www.carbonfootprint.com. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
- ^ "Who We Are". The Gold Standard. Archived from the original on 2018-10-12. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
- ^ "Contact". The Gold Standard. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
- ^ "New Standard Launched to Accelerate and Measure Progress Toward the Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Targets" (Press release). Gold Standard Foundation. 10 July 2017.
- S2CID 144401144.
- S2CID 145650089.
- ^ "CDM: Tools".
- ^ "Project Registry". Gold Standard. Retrieved 2018-08-22.