Gold Standard Foundation

Mission The Gold Standard is the world’s only high quality certification standard for carbon offsets, created to ensure that international compliance and voluntary carbon markets work towards a long-term solution to mitigate climate change while promoting sustainable development and other environmental benefits. In 2004 an alliance of large nongovernmental organizations, including Helio International, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and SouthSouthNorth, established the Gold Standard to define a “high quality” offset in a market awash with illusory emissions reductions. To be eligible for the Gold Standard seal, carbon offset projects must (1) employ renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, (2) adhere to the strictest standards on additionality, and (3) positively impact the economy, health, welfare and environment of the local community hosting the project. The Gold Standard continues to innovate on issues related to mitigation in the poorest nations. Key to the Gold Standard’s formula for a high quality project is the involvement of the project’s local host community – those most affected by climate change – without whose cooperation projects are more vulnerable and likely to fail. As a result of the Gold Standard’s emphasis on community involvement and sustainability, hundreds of communities have reaped co-benefits such as job creation, improved health and healthcare services, access to affordable electricity and stimulus to the local economy. To date, there are over 400 projects in the Gold Standard pipeline and approximately two million Gold Standard carbon credits have been issued.