The Isometric Standard sets out the world’s most stringent set of rules for removing carbon, raising the bar for scientific rigor, transparency, incentive alignment and collaboration and addressing the problems plaguing the traditional carbon offset market.
The only carbon credits that can be issued against the Isometric Standard are those that can prove that they really have removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and have stored it for quantifiable long-duration timescales (generally 1000+ years). The Standard does not accept so-called “avoidance” credits, which do not actually result in a net reduction of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and have been a major source of greenwashing in the old offset market. Nor does the Standard allow carbon credits to be issued for projects that may only temporarily store carbon dioxide, which is an issue with many tree-planting programmes, given environmental risks such as wildfires.
Isometric has also provided a groundbreaking commitment to transparency. It is the first Registry where the public will be able to scrutinize the full calculations behind every single carbon credit listed on the platform. The public can even directly check what underlying evidence has been collected, for example a utility bill showing how much of the energy powering the carbon removal was renewable. In keeping with this approach, the Isometric Standard itself was developed in collaboration with an independent network of over 150 expert scientists and is now undergoing a period of public consultation here.
With this combination of scientific rigor and radical transparency, the Isometric Standard offers an opportunity for the fast-growing carbon removal industry to avoid the mistakes of the past. Allowing the public to trust—but also verify—these claims is critical.
With this foundation of trust in place, the carbon removal industry can grow to the scale that the UN has deemed essential for the world to avoid exceeding 1.5°C of warming.
When the stakes are this high, the standards need to match.
Cover image by Joshua Sortino
