A new Climate Action Data Trust (CAD Trust) will bring together all major carbon market registry data in a unified system. The news was announced by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) on Oct. 26.
The CAD Trust is a joint initiative of the International Emissions Trading Association, The World Bank, and the government of Singapore, together with other governments, and public and private organizations. The project aims to create an open-source metadata system with information on CO2 credits and projects across digital platforms, which will allow for the future integration of multiple registry systems.
The trust uses distributed ledger technology to provide a decentralized record, which avoids double counting, increases trust in carbon data, and assists climate goals.
According to IETA, about 80% of countries are interested in using Article 6 trading provisions to meet their climate targets in line with the Paris Agreement. Using Article 6 means that countries should track and report their use of international carbon credits via a registry system. The new CAD Trust will facilitate this process by allowing high-integrity systems and digital connections.
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The CAD Trust platform will launch at the beginning of December 2022, when the public metadata layer will be available on https://climateactiondata.org.
“Today’s carbon markets are complex and fragmented, yet they hold the potential for enabling countries and companies to achieve net-zero climate goals,” said Dirk Forrister, President and CEO of IETA. “The Climate Action Data Trust will serve as a public good, providing an accessible, decentralized, and secure digital infrastructure that can be used by all participants in carbon markets – acting as an invaluable tool for market communication, trust, and transparency.”
“Carbon markets can help countries meet their climate goals but only if reductions are real and credible,” said Chandra Shekhar Sinha, Lead Financial Specialist at the World Bank. “Climate Action Data Trust is an important step towards solving the challenge of standardizing and interconnecting carbon market registry systems.”
An independent entity hosted in Singapore, the CAD Trust will be officially launched during the Asia Climate Summit on December 7-8.
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