Carbon Direct together with Microsoft just released the new 2023 edition of the Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal.
This year’s edition of the criteria builds on the work already done by both Microsoft and Carbon Direct for the introduction of the Criteria back in 2021, which focused on the difficulties pertaining to quality in the voluntary carbon market (VCM).
The Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal aim to address these challenges by providing strict, science-based standards for various carbon removal projects.
These standards can both offer project developers a reference point to ensure the high quality of their projects and provide carbon removal buyers a basis for the evaluation of their carbon credits portfolio.
Emissions removal targets are increasingly being set by both governments and organizations in the private sector right alongside reduction targets, signaling that the importance of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is becoming widely accepted.
CEO of Carbon Direct, Jon Goldberg, commented on the news by saying: “The long-term viability of the voluntary carbon market — for both project developers and credit purchasers — requires that we continuously refine and revise our understanding and implementation of the available carbon removal methodologies and how they are evaluated.”
Relevant: Carbon Direct Launches End-To-End Carbon Management Platform
“Science is not static. The annual updates to the Criteria reflect this reality. Through our work with Microsoft we are committed to providing quality benchmarks based on the latest science, even when that requires revising our own previous guidance to reflect new understanding,” Goldberg concluded.
The 2023 edition of the Criteria by Microsoft and Carbon Direct advances existing standards for quality across a range of CDR solutions and introduces new criteria for novel technologies, such as enhanced rock weathering.
Other updates include the alignment of carbon accounting and monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV), as well as the enrichment of environmental justice criteria for CDR projects.
Read more: Microsoft Makes First Enhanced Weathering CO2 Removal Purchase From UNDO
