Resource Hub

A public consultation on our Draft Core Documents was carried out from May 08th – June 19th 2023 . We currently integrating the comments and updating our standard documents.
Many thanks for your support!

Draft documents

Under development:

  • Automated forms (e.g., PDD)
  • Risk Management
  • Risk Assessment Tool
  • Registry Terms of Use
  • Registry Guidance

Frequently asked questions

Here you can find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. If you still have questions left, please feel free to contact us.

ClimatePal Standard

What is ClimatePal?

ClimatePal is an independent standard providing a global applicable GHG emission mitigation certification framework for offsetting projects aimed at the generation of carbon credits for the voluntary market. ClimatePal certifies high-quality carbon credits ensuring additionality, verifiability, and permanence of the GHG emission reduction, avoidance, and removals. Offsetting projects under ClimatePal bring additional co-benefits, with a specific focus on ecosystem services provision, biodiversity enhancement and positive social impact.

Why ClimatePal is created?

To achieve successful GHG emissions mitigation, ClimatePal aims at being a global Standard to certify the offsetting projects and to issue carbon credits for the Voluntary Carbon Market. ClimatePal certified offsetting projects are considered high-quality in terms of contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, ecosystem services provision, bio-diversity enhancement, preservation and restoration, positive social impact, and additional co-benefits.

ClimatePal’s mission is to advance, facilitate and incentivize the projects which are dedicated to reduce, remove or avoid GHG emissions. ClimatePal aims at mitigating GHG emissions and simultaneously contributing to and promoting an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable use of different ecosystem services through implementation of different carbon offsetting projects.

How is ClimatePal managed?

The governance structure of the ClimatePal Standard consists of the following bodies:

  • ClimatePal Services GmbH
  • Advisory Board (ClimatePal e.V)
  • Experts Committee

ClimatePal Systems GmbH is the governing body of ClimatePal Standard. It is a private company registered in Germany with the headquarter in Cologne.
Activities of ClimatePal Standard is supervised by the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board oversees ClimatePal activities, takes part in strategical meetings and guides development of the standard.
The Experts Committee includes experts in the fields of forestry, agriculture and GHG emissions. The Committee provides a peer review of projects documents, and ClimatePal Standard documents. It also supports the development of ClimatePal Standard.
More details can be found here.

What is ClimatePal Registry?

ClimatePal Registry ensures transparency along the certification process of offsetting projects and in the issuance and retirement of carbon credits. The transparent transactions done through ClimatePal Registry avoid any double counting or multiple selling of carbon credits.

The main functions of ClimatePal Registry are:

  • Tracking carbon credits generation, issuance, serialization, transfer, and retirement.
  • Providing easily accessible project documents (PDD, verification reports etc.) and information (g., project area, methodology, project type etc).
  • Allowing project developers to monitor the certification procedure, providing information on the project status, the quantity of issued credits and the details of retired ones.
  • Establishing a place for the public comments exchange during the public consultation phase a project.
  • Maintaining the carbon credits buffer pool to cover potential reversals and other shortfalls of certain project types.

Carbon Offsetting 

How does Carbon offsetting work?

Carbon Offsetting (or Compensation) is a compensatory mechanism that allows companies and privates to invest in offsetting projects, aimed at  which reducing/avoiding or removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and to receive back carbon credits to compensate their own emissions.

What is a Carbon Offsetting Project?

A Carbon Offsetting Project is an activity focused to climate change mitigation. (GHG emissions reduction, avoidance, or removal). To be certified, an offsetting project has to meet certain specific requirement and criteria, set by the certification standard.

What is a Carbon Credit?

A Carbon Credit is a tradable unit on the Voluntary Carbon Market which equals to 1 ton of reduced/avoided or removed CO2eq by a carbon offsetting project activity. The carbon credits issued under ClimatePal are called ClimatePal Credits.

How to Offset Emissions and Become Carbon Neutral?

To offset their own emissions a company or an individual should take the following steps:

  • Calculate their own carbon footprint
  • Reduce emissions where possible
  • Offset remaining/unavoidable emissions by choosing a ClimatePal project and purchase the necessary carbon credits

Project Certification

What types of projects are eligible under ClimatePal?

ClimatePal certifies different types of projects, generally divided into GHG emissions reduction, avoidance, and removal projects. A list eligible project can be found here.

imed at  which reducing/avoiding or removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and to receive back carbon credits to compensate their own emissions.

How to get certified under ClimatePal?

Project developers, who would like to certify their project under ClimatePal and generate high-qualitycertified carbon credits, must comply with project requirements and criteria. Projects are subjected to specific acknowledgement, registration, validation, and verification procedure.

Certification procedure under ClimatePal consists in five steps:

  1. Proposal of Project Idea
  2. Submission of Project Design Document (PDD)
  3. Third-party Validation
  4. Verification and Monitoring
  5. Issuance of Carbon Credits

Once the carbon credits are issued, the projects must follow early monitoring procedure and a five-year verification.

More details can be found here.

What is a Carbon Credit?

A Carbon Credit is a tradable unit on the Voluntary Carbon Market which equals to 1 ton of reduced/avoided or removed CO2eq by a carbon offsetting project activity. The carbon credits issued under ClimatePal are called ClimatePal Credits.

What are ClimatePal requirements and criteria?

ClimatePal provides two levels of certification requirements and criteria for a project to be qualified as a carbon offsetting project under the Standard.

The first level is composed by the basic requirements ensuring reliability of GHG emission reductions/avoidances and removals. The full list of requirements can be found here.

The second level consists in a ClimatePal specific criteria referring to additional co-benefits brought by the offsetting project to the environment and social component of the project area. The second level of criteria ensures that the project go beyond the reduction or avoidance of GHG emissions, contributing also to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Full list of the criteria can be found here.

Do you have further questions about ClimatePal?