The OffsetC Carbon Quality Framework

Purpose

The purpose of the Carbon Quality Framework is to establish the principles, standards, and decision-making processes that govern OffsetC's carbon-credit portfolio.

The framework is designed to ensure that carbon credits purchased on behalf of members are selected using consistent, transparent, and evidence-based criteria while maintaining affordability, scalability, and long-term climate impact.

Carbon markets continue to evolve, and reasonable experts often disagree regarding the relative merits of specific project types, methodologies, and technologies. OffsetC therefore seeks to evaluate projects using transparent and consistent criteria rather than relying on broad assumptions regarding any particular category of carbon credit.

Guiding Principles

OffsetC's carbon-credit portfolio is governed by five core principles:

Climate Impact

The primary objective of every carbon-credit purchase is to achieve meaningful and measurable climate impact.

OffsetC evaluates projects based upon their ability to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions, or remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The platform does not maintain a preference for any particular technology or methodology. Instead, projects are evaluated based upon the quality of their climate outcomes.

Technology Agnosticism

OffsetC does not view any single carbon-reduction or carbon-removal technology as the exclusive or best solution to climate change.

Nature-based solutions, engineered carbon removal, methane-abatement projects, and emerging technologies will likely all play important roles in addressing climate change.

Rather than favoring specific technologies, OffsetC seeks to evaluate projects according to consistent standards of quality, integrity, transparency, and impact.

Transparency

Trust is fundamental to the effective functioning of carbon markets.

OffsetC participants should be able to understand how carbon credits are selected, how funds are allocated, and how credits are ultimately retired.

OffsetC therefore seeks to maintain transparent project-selection processes, portfolio reporting, and retirement verification practices whenever practical.

Accessibility

Long-term climate impact requires broad participation.

OffsetC believes that access to high-quality carbon markets should be available to ordinary consumers rather than limited to corporations or high-net-worth individuals.

Portfolio decisions therefore seek to balance carbon quality with affordability in order to support large-scale consumer participation.

Continuous Improvement

Scientific understanding, carbon-market standards, and climate technologies continue to evolve.

Projects included in the portfolio may be periodically reassessed as new scientific evidence, verification results, registry actions, ratings, or other material information becomes available.

Project Evaluation Criteria

Projects considered for inclusion within the OffsetC portfolio are evaluated using multiple criteria.

Additionality

Projects should demonstrate that climate benefits would not have occurred without the carbon-credit financing associated with the project.

Additionality remains one of the foundational principles of carbon-market integrity.

Durability

Projects should demonstrate that their climate benefits are expected to last for an appropriate period of time. For projects that store carbon, durability refers to how long that carbon is expected to remain out of the atmosphere and how effectively the project manages the risk that it could later be released.

Durability exists along a spectrum and may vary by project type. While long-term carbon storage is generally preferred, portfolio construction recognizes that different project categories provide different durability characteristics.

Measurement, Reporting, and Verification

Projects should demonstrate credible approaches to measuring and conservatively quantifying climate benefits, with safeguards against material over-crediting.

OffsetC favors projects that use established methodologies, independent verification processes, and transparent reporting practices.

Leakage

Projects are evaluated for the risk that emissions reductions in one location may result in increased emissions elsewhere.

Where  such risks exist, OffsetC seeks evidence that those risks have been appropriately addressed.

Traceability

OffsetC favors projects and procurement channels that support clear documentation of credit issuance, ownership, transfer, and retirement.

The ability to trace credits throughout their lifecycle strengthens transparency and member confidence, while ensuring credits are reliably retired with their corresponding climate benefits.

Projects should demonstrate safeguards against double issuance, double use, and other forms of double counting.

Community and Environmental Benefits

Although climate impact remains the primary objective, OffsetC recognizes that many projects generate additional environmental and social benefits.

When practical, project evaluation may also consider environmental and social benefits, including biodiversity protection, ecosystem restoration, community development, public health, and alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Portfolio Construction

OffsetC utilizes a portfolio approach to carbon-credit procurement.

No individual project type, methodology, or technology is assumed to be sufficient on its own to address climate change. A diversified portfolio helps reduce concentration risk, support innovation, and balance differing strengths and weaknesses among project categories.

Portfolio construction may include a combination of carbon-reduction, emissions-avoidance, and carbon-removal projects.

The portfolio approach also reflects OffsetC's belief that consumer participation plays an important role in accelerating the development of emerging climate solutions. A portion of the portfolio may therefore include higher-cost or earlier-stage technologies that demonstrate meaningful long-term potential.

At the same time, OffsetC believes that broad climate participation requires affordability. Portfolio construction therefore seeks to balance support for emerging solutions with the need to maintain pricing accessible to ordinary consumers.

Risk Management

Carbon markets involve uncertainty.

Project performance, verification methodologies, scientific understanding, and regulatory frameworks will evolve over time. Certain projects may experience reversals, underperformance, or other unforeseen outcomes.

To address these risks, OffsetC intends to maintain a replacement reserve designed to support the replacement of carbon credits that are subsequently determined to have failed to deliver their intended climate benefit.

OffsetC may also evaluate third-party insurance products, warranty mechanisms, or other risk-management tools as the market for carbon-credit risk mitigation continues to mature.

The objective is not to assume that all projects will perform perfectly, but to manage risks prudently and transparently on behalf of members.

Long-Term Objective

The objective of this Carbon Quality Framework is not merely to identify individual high-quality carbon credits.

The broader objective is to build a trusted, diversified, and continuously improving carbon portfolio capable of delivering meaningful climate impact at a scale accessible to ordinary consumers.

By combining rigorous evaluation standards, diversified portfolio construction, transparent reporting, and prudent risk management, OffsetC seeks to create a durable institution capable of supporting climate action for generations to come.