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Carbon Markets Initiative
Bringing transparency and integrity to carbon markets
The Challenges
Carbon markets have the potential to drive meaningful climate action, from protecting forests to scaling carbon removal technologies. However, inconsistent standards, data opacity, and market fragmentation undermine its effectiveness. Buyers struggle to evaluate credit quality due to incomplete and inaccessible project data, while developers face conflicting and duplicative reporting demands. Verifiers, meanwhile, work with static, inconsistent datasets, making reliable assessments difficult. Without clear, standardized, and transparent information, the markets will remain inefficient and inaccessible.
Our Work
RMI’s Carbon Markets Initiative (CMI) is tackling these challenges by bringing transparency and integrity to carbon markets. Through an open, standardized data framework and educational resources, CMI empowers stakeholders to navigate the carbon markets with confidence.
Strengthening Carbon Credit Data
RMI is leading efforts to standardize carbon credit data, ensuring that buyers, project developers, and registries have access to reliable, verifiable, and science-backed information throughout the credit lifecycle.
SCALE: Partnering with VCM products and service providers, like Centigrade, to implement RMI’s carbon credit data framework.
Co-leading the Carbon Data Open Protocol to drive industry-wide standardization and interoperability.
Demystifying Carbon Markets
Understanding which carbon credits provide real impact is daunting. RMI provides the knowledge, tools, and frameworks for data-informed purchasing decisions.
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