Local Climate Protection Projects in Switzerland, Germany and Austria

Our portfolio encompasses a wide range of nature-based and technical solutions: from moor rewetting, climate-optimised forest management and agroforestry programmes to biomass and biochar, to innovative technical initiatives relating to sustainable mobility or the circular economy, for example. All our projects make a clear contribution to sustainable local development, strengthen regional value creation and promote ecological and social transformations.

We adhere to the highest available standards for certification. For smaller or particularly innovative pilot and support programmes that cannot be certified under these standards, we rely on our own guidelines – the "Guidelines for Local myclimate Projects” – which are based on international quality requirements such as the Gold Standard. 

Certified climate protection projects in Germany, Austria and Switzerland 

myclimate develops local climate protection projects in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein that can be certified according to recognised standards. Certification enables the generation of CO₂ certificates that can be used in both the voluntary and mandatory markets.  

In Switzerland, a comprehensive set of rules has been in place since 2012 by the federal offices FOEN and SFOE, which apply to technical projects in the mandatory market within the scope of the CO₂ Act. Domestic projects can also be certified under the Gold Standard.  

In Germany, two regional standards have been established for nature-based projects: the MoorFutures standard and the eva Wald-Klimastandard Deutschland – both of which meet myclimate’s quality requirements.  In Austria and Switzerland, there are also established methodologies for the development of forest climate protection projects. To achieve this, we work closely with the association Wald-Klimaschutz Schweiz.  

Local sink projects that specifically extract CO₂ from the atmosphere can be certified by Carbon Standards International (CSI), which also allows CO₂ removals to be verified.  

Innovative or smaller projects: local myclimate projects 
 

For projects that do not fit under an existing standard for reasons such as being too small, a project type that has not yet been regulated or a new methodology, myclimate uses the “Guidelines for Local myclimate Projects”. These are based on strict requirements, such as those of the Gold Standard and the FOEN/SFOE guidelines, and ensure that innovative domestic projects also have an impact in terms of quality and content. Projects under this category must be reviewed by an external auditor in order to report their climate impact in terms of the unit “myc VER = 1 t CO₂”. Only very small projects that extract under 5,000 t CO₂ over the duration of the project are audited internally. 

The projects make important contributions to sustainable development by promoting environmental improvements (e.g. soil, water, biodiversity) and social and economic innovations (e.g. circular economy, mobility). For the implementation, we work closely with local partners such as municipalities, farms and forestry services, as well as mobility and energy stakeholders. Together, we strengthen regional sustainability transformations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and enable our customers to make a credible, visible and effective contribution to decarbonisation and sustainable paths for the future.