Market Standards

Carbon and nature markets are governed by standards, the rulebooks that define how a credit is created, measured, and retired. Standards and the registries that enforce them are what let a credit from one project be compared with, and trusted against, another.

What Standards Do

A standard sets the methods a project must follow, the criteria a credit must meet, and the process for issuing and tracking it. Registries record each credit and its retirement, so the same outcome cannot be sold twice. Together they bring order to a complex market.

The Major Bodies

Several independent bodies set widely used standards, including Verra, which runs the Verified Carbon Standard, and Gold Standard. Programmes such as REDD+ define approaches for credits from protecting and restoring forests. Each aims to give buyers confidence in what they are purchasing.

Where Standards Reach Their Limit

Standards define what should be measured and how, but they still rely on the data projects report. A rigorous standard applied to weak or unverifiable data cannot guarantee a real outcome, which is where much of the market's remaining risk sits.

Standards Plus Verifiable Data

Standards and verifiable data are complementary. Druid Chain is built to supply the source-level, auditable data that standards depend on, so that following a standard and proving the outcome become the same thing.