A carbon credit is a claim that one tonne of CO2e was reduced, avoided or removed. Carbon credit quality is about whether that claim holds: whether the tonne would not have happened anyway, is measured honestly, stays out of the atmosphere and belongs to you alone.
There is no single number that answers all of that. Labels and ratings help, but they summarise; they do not replace looking at the project. This checklist shows what to check, where to find the answer, and which questions to put to the supplier when the documents do not settle it.
The short answer. Assess carbon credit quality along three lines: governance (is the credit tracked, transparent and independently verified?), emissions impact (is it additional, permanent enough, conservatively quantified and counted once?) and sustainable impact (does it respect safeguards and fit a net-zero transition?). Use the CCP label and ratings as starting points, and the project documents and registry as evidence.
The checklist, built on the Core Carbon Principles
The ICVCM Core Carbon Principles are the market’s most widely used definition of a high-integrity credit. The checklist below follows their three groups. For each point: what to check, and where to find it.
Governance: can you trust the system behind the credit?
Principle | What to check | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
Effective governance | Is the issuing programme well governed, with public rules and a complaints process? | The standard’s website; the ICVCM assessment status page |
Tracking | Is the project on a public registry with unique serial numbers? | The registry (Verra, Gold Standard, ACR, Puro.earth, Isometric) |
Transparency | Are the project documents, monitoring reports and verification reports public? | The project page in the registry |
Independent validation and verification | Who verified the latest issuance, and is the verifier accredited for this programme? | The latest verification report |
Emissions impact: is the tonne real, and is it yours?
Principle | What to check | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
Additionality | Would the activity have happened without carbon revenue? Which test was used? | Project design document; ratings |
Permanence | Can the carbon be released again? How are reversals monitored and compensated? | Project documents; buffer pool rules of the standard |
Robust quantification | Is the baseline conservative and updated? Are leakage and uncertainty deducted? | Monitoring and verification reports; ratings |
No double counting | Is the credit issued on one registry only and not claimed by anyone else, including a country? | Registry; supplier confirmation; Article 6 status |
Sustainable impact: what else does the project do?
Principle | What to check | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
Sustainable development benefits and safeguards | Are safeguards applied, is there a grievance mechanism, are land and carbon rights clear, do communities share in the revenue? | Project documents; co-benefit certification; supplier |
Contribution to the net-zero transition | Does the activity avoid locking in high emissions? | Methodology; project description |
The CCP label combines these checks at programme and methodology level: a credit can carry it when the programme is CCP-Eligible and the methodology is CCP-Approved. On 4 August 2026 the ICVCM’s status page listed 13 CCP-Eligible programmes and 45 CCP-Approved methodologies. Our overview of CCP-labelled carbon credits shows examples.
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What labels and ratings can and cannot tell you
The CCP label sets a floor for the programme and methodology. It does not assess the individual project, and labelled supply is still limited, so many sound projects do not carry it yet. If a project has no label, ask whether the methodology is approved or still under assessment.
Independent ratings from agencies such as Sylvera, BeZero and Calyx Global assess individual projects, with a focus on whether the credited tonnes are likely to be real. Headline ratings are often available for free or with a free account. Ratings differ between agencies, because their methods differ; treat a rating as an informed opinion with a date. Our comparison of carbon credit rating agencies explains the scales and methods. Our articles on the highest-rated BeZero credits and Sylvera ratings show how ratings are used in practice.
The standard tells you which rulebook applies. Our comparison of carbon credit standards explains the differences between Verra, Gold Standard, Puro.earth and others.
None of these replaces reading the latest verification report for the project you are buying.
Questions per project type
Each project type has its own known weak points. Use these as questions for your supplier:
Forest protection (REDD+). How was the baseline deforestation rate set, and has it been reassessed? How is leakage to nearby forest handled?
Reforestation and agroforestry. Which species are planted, is there a risk of fire or logging, and how large is the buffer pool contribution? Was any natural ecosystem converted?
Cookstoves. How was actual stove use measured, and which assumption on non-renewable wood fuel was used?
Renewable energy. Would the project have been built without carbon revenue in this market?
Biochar. What is the feedstock, how is durability demonstrated, and how is the biochar used?
Direct air capture and other durable removals. Where does the energy come from, where is the CO2 stored, and how is storage monitored?
How Regreener assesses quality
Regreener assesses every project against a framework of more than 100 datapoints in five weighted domains: general project details (methodology, verification, land tenure, governance and developer track record), carbon impact (additionality, permanence, over-crediting and measurement accuracy), co-benefits (demonstrated benefits for nature and communities), reporting process (how impact is tracked and communicated over time) and compliance and reputation (legal standing, controversies and external ratings). The framework produces one rating per project, and only the highest-rated projects enter the portfolio we offer clients.
Tip from Bernard de Wit, Co-founder of Regreener: “Start with the verification report. It tells you who checked the project, when, what they found and what they asked the developer to fix. Most quality questions are answered there or nowhere. If a supplier cannot send you the latest report within a day, that is information too.”
Use the checklist before and after you buy
Before you buy, send the open questions to every supplier in writing; our list of questions to ask every carbon credit supplier turns this checklist into a questionnaire. After you buy, check what you hold the same way; our guide to reviewing your carbon credit portfolio covers the steps.
Regreener’s free Quality Checker helps with both: enter up to five projects with what you know about each and get the quality points to verify per project, plus a portfolio overview. “Don’t know” is a valid answer; it becomes a point to check.
For a full assessment of specific projects, talk to a Climate Strategist.
