Last modification
International projects are primarily certified to the Gold Standard and Plan Vivo; selected projects are also certified to VCS (including CCB and/or SD-Vista) or CSI. Projects in Switzerland are developed and audited in accordance with the guidelines of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). For nature-based projects in Germany and Central Europe, myclimate works with standards such as max.moor or the Waldstandard, amongst others, and also applies its own ‘Guidelines for Local myclimate Projects’.
Furthermore, myclimate develops and supports projects under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement for the international compliance market.
All projects in the myclimate portfolio must meet the following criteria:
The climate protection projects developed and supported by myclimate demonstrably reduce emissions by replacing climate-damaging, fossil fuel sources with renewable ones, or by promoting more energy efficient technologies, as well as by reducing methane emissions or avoiding or storing CO2 emissions in natural sinks or through innovative technologies and processes such as biogenic building materials. The myclimate portfolio ranges from solar and drinking water treatment plants, through composting, recycling and cooking stove projects, to forest conservation, reforestation and renaturation initiatives, as well as projects for the rewetting of peatlands and biochar projects.
In addition to measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the projects always bring benefits to the local population and the environment. For example, they create jobs, improve infrastructure or reduce health risks. Biodiversity in the project region is protected and educational opportunities for the local population are enhanced. myclimate transparently reports which of the UN’s SDGs each individual project contributes to.
When implementing climate protection projects, myclimate usually works closely with experienced and independent partners in the respective countries. These local partners ensure that the projects are carried out professionally on the ground and regularly monitor their impact. In addition, the climate protection projects are audited annually (every five years in the LUF sector) by a further independent external body.
The international projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America are VER projects (VERs stand for Verified Emission Reductions) for voluntary contributions to climate protection. All myclimate climate protection projects in the energy field are audited according to the criteria of the Gold Standard. myclimate’s land-use projects either comply with the guidelines of Plan Vivo, the most renowned and stringent standard in this field, Alternatively, they comply with the VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) guidelines as defined by VERRA, provided they are additionally verified against the CCB (Climate, Community & Biodiversity) and/or SD-VISta (Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard) standards. myclimate registers biochar projects with Carbon Standards International (CSI). The various standards are described below.
Gold Standard
The Gold Standard is an independent quality standard that certifies high quality climate protection projects. It was launched in 2003 by the WWF and other environmental organisations and ensures that both projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and those funded through voluntary climate protection projects meet the highest quality standards. In addition to actual CO₂ reductions, projects certified under the Gold Standard also contribute to sustainability in the respective project region and to the UN’s SDGs.
Plan Vivo
Plan Vivo was established in 1996 and is the oldest standard for the certification of climate protection projects in the land-use sector. It was specifically developed to give smallholders access to the carbon market. Forest conservation, reforestation and forest management projects are awarded the label if they meet the highest standards. The projects are locally based and organised, and smallholder families receive at least 60 per cent of the climate protection funds. Furthermore, the projects and programmes take a holistic approach. They protect and restore vital ecosystems whilst simultaneously creating livelihoods for the local population. As such, they are recognised worldwide for their high standards of integrity in the field of nature-based climate protection solutions. The standard promotes pragmatic climate protection solutions based on participatory approaches that place communities and smallholder farmers at the heart of the solutions. It is these qualities that make Plan Vivo one of the most credible and robust standards worldwide.
VCS
The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), formerly known as the Voluntary Carbon Standard, is a standard for certifying CO₂ emissions reductions developed by the organisation VERRA, which was founded in 2007 and is currently the most widely used standard on the voluntary carbon market. myclimate does not currently have any VCS projects in its portfolio, but reserves the right to include selected VCS projects in the land-use sector if these are also certified under the CCB with additionality (Climate, Community & Biodiversity) and/or the SD-VISta (Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard) standard. Customary and statutory rights must be recognised and respected; free, prior and informed consent must be obtained; and direct and indirect costs, benefits and risks must be assessed and monitored. Furthermore, natural areas worthy of protection must be conserved, and a positive net impact on the climate, the local community and biodiversity must be ensured.
Carbon Standards International
Carbon Standards International (CSI) develops standards and online tools for climate friendly agriculture and industry, and offers certification of climate protection achievements, such as biochar CO₂ certificates. The Ithaka Institute provides scientific advice to CSI and ensures that the methods used are scientifically sound. The institute was founded by Hans-Peter Schmidt, a recognised pioneer in the research and application of biochar. The register is officially operated by the ‘Global Carbon Register Foundation’. CSI is recognised by ICROA and thus meets the requirements of the Carbon Credit Code of Best Practice, which aims to improve the quality and integrity of projects in the voluntary carbon market.
International projects for mandatory markets under Article 6
In order to sustain the international climate action process beyond 2020 – that is, after the Kyoto Protocol had expired – a new climate agreement was needed. This was adopted in 2015 at the Climate Change Conference in Paris as the ‘Paris Agreement’. In 2021, at COP26 in Glasgow, Article 6 – which is relevant to climate protection projects – was adopted; it governs emissions reductions between states (6.2) and between states and private entities (6.4), i.e. the so-called voluntary market. At COP29 in Baku, further rules and guidelines were adopted, paving the way for the full operationalisation of the mechanism – an important step towards a global, UN-administered voluntary carbon market.
The agreement aims to create a regulated, highly integrated carbon market, with the supervisory body tasked with implementing the mechanism and developing further guidelines for its operation. Certificates from the voluntary market generated up to 2020 (vintage 2020 or earlier) still fall under the Kyoto Protocol. More recent certificates are already subject to the rules of the Paris Agreement.
As a project developer with over 25 years’ experience, myclimate also develops Article 6 projects for bilateral and multilateral partnerships as well as for mandatory markets. In doing so, myclimate applies the same high standards of quality, environmental integrity and transparency as it does to projects in the voluntary carbon market.
Additional quality assurance: Core Carbon Principles (CCP)
The Core Carbon Principles (CCP) were developed by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM). They define criteria for high-quality carbon credits and are intended to strengthen the integrity of the voluntary carbon market.
Unlike standards such as the Gold Standard, Plan Vivo or VCS, the CCP do not certify projects directly. Instead, the ICVCM assesses whether certain categories of carbon credits meet the requirements for environmental integrity. Credits that meet these requirements may be labelled with the CCP label.
For companies, CCP-labelled credits offer additional guidance when selecting high quality climate protection projects. myclimate welcomes initiatives to enhance transparency and quality in the voluntary carbon market and is closely monitoring the development of the CCP criteria and their application.
Further external measures: project assessments by rating agencies
Alongside certification standards, independent quality controls – for example, by rating agencies such as Sylvera, BeZero Carbon or Calyx Global – are becoming increasingly important. They assess climate protection projects from a third-party perspective based on criteria such as environmental integrity, additionality, permanence, the risk of leakage, and governance.
However, ratings are no substitute for certification against established standards. Rather, they offer a complementary, independent assessment of project quality and help to provide a better understanding of the strengths and potential risks of individual projects. As a further mechanism for transparently presenting and ensuring the quality of projects, myclimate welcomes the work of rating agencies and is in constant dialogue with them.
myclimate uses ratings as an additional source of information as part of its own due diligence process. The ratings are always considered in conjunction with other quality criteria, the requirements of the relevant standards and myclimate’s project-specific expertise.
myclimate’s domestic projects and support programmes are also committed to the highest standards of quality. They drive measurable climate protection in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. The climate protection projects cover the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, nature, mobility and agriculture. A fundamental distinction is made between the mandatory and voluntary markets.
FOEN/SFOE on the mandatory carbon offset market in Switzerland
The CO₂ Act and the associated CO₂ Ordinance form the legal basis for the implementation of CO₂ offset projects within Switzerland’s mandatory CO₂ market. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), has drawn up recommendations on the implementation of these legal provisions and set them out in the enforcement notice ‘Domestic emission reduction projects’.
Standards for nature-based climate protection projects in the voluntary market
For nature-based climate protection projects in Germany and Central Europe, myclimate works with recognised standards and quality frameworks for peatland, forest and landscape projects. These include, for example, max.moor for peatland restoration projects and the Forest Standard for high-quality forest climate protection projects. These standards support the transparent measurement of the impact on the climate as well as other environmental and biodiversity benefits.
“Guidelines for Domestic Projects”
The “Guidelines for Domestic Projects” serve as a basis for the development of climate protection projects in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein for the voluntary market, where no official standard is available. The ‘myclimate Guidelines for Domestic Projects’ were developed in line with the strict requirements of the Gold Standard and the Swiss implementation guidelines issued by the FOEN and the SFOE. They serve as the basis for voluntary contributions to climate protection, with or without the myclimate label "CO₂ calculated – Carbon projects funded". All projects covered by the Guidelines are reviewed by independent, external auditors, with the exception of very small regional climate protection projects, for which myclimate carries out internal validation and verification. All projects covered by these guidelines, except for regional climate protection projects (see below), are backed by certificates from international climate protection projects to ensure quality.
