Gold Standard

For ten years, The Gold Standard Foundation has pioneered the way climate change is addressed. Our Reward for Results approach has channeled billions of Euros into 1000 low carbon development projects. To receive our prestigious stamp of approval all Gold Standard projects must be implemented following our best practice rules, consult with local stakeholders, continually reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the environment and people’s lives. Once certified by The Gold Standard projects are issued credits annually against independently audited climate and sustainable development outcomes. The purchase of these credits – by governments, business, impact investors and individuals – provides on-going funding to project activities. This Results Based Finance principle shifts the emphasis to outputs rather than inputs or promises and gives the buyers of Gold Standard credits confidence that their money is making a real difference. We measure our success, in turn, on the aggregated positive impacts that our projects deliver to thousands of local communities and the global environment. With a strong conviction that our climate ‘results based finance’ model can be replicated and adapted, we are pioneering best practice rules and monitoring tools for broader environmental and development outcomes, beginning with water. WWF calls The Gold Standard its ‘carbon market weapon of choice’ whilst The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation rates the development impacts of Gold Standard projects as ‘supra-normal’.

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