From your land to certified units
A specialist supports you throughout preparation. The platform manages the application, audits and renewals. An independent certification body verifies, then we issue the units.
Can your project be certified?
What you do on the land
We certify four CRCF activities, each under its own methodology.
Outside these four? We can develop a new methodology to CRCF quality requirements. Propose a methodology →
Who can be the operator
The operator controls and is responsible for the activity: a farmer, a landowner or forest manager, or a public authority. A valid title proving control of the area is required for the commitment period.
Would you have done it anyway?
Only climate benefits that would not have occurred without certification can be certified. This is additionality, supported by three tests:
- Regulatory additionality: the practice is not already required by law.
- Incentive test: the activity has not started, except documented projects begun no more than three years earlier.
- Financial additionality: the activity is not viable without unit revenue.
We build the evidence with you in the Activity Plan. It is reassessed at renewal or when applicable law changes.
Individually or as a group
Below 200 units a year, a standalone project can struggle to cover audit costs. An operator group is often the right route for small properties.
The group is a legal entity representing at least two operators performing the same activity and manages agreements, data and internal controls.
The certification body audits a sample equal to the square root of the members: one hundred members means ten checks. The group submits one monitoring report and distributes units under its agreements.
We help with governance documents, agreements, internal control, data collection and allocation criteria.
A person supports you; the platform keeps the record
The hard part is not uploading files, but deciding what to measure, where, with which sampling design and how to substantiate each claim.
Certification bodies are accredited to EN ISO/IEC 17065 and, when verifying with their own resources, also apply EN ISO/IEC 17029 and EN ISO 14065.
From project to units in 4 steps
What you do and what we do.
How often certification happens
Frequency depends on how quickly carbon changes.
| Activity | Recertification | Activity period |
|---|---|---|
| Agroforestry | yearly | 15 years, renewable once |
| Afforestation | yearly | 35 years, not renewable |
| Regenerative agriculture | every 3–5 years | 5 years, renewable up to 3 times |
| Nitrous oxide reduction | same as paired activity | same as paired activity |
Why soil takes longer
Soil carbon changes slowly. Waiting three to five years reveals a measurable signal with less uncertainty.
Monitoring audits are different
They do not generate units; they check that carbon remains stored. After the activity they occur at least every five years and after material events.
Frequently asked questions
Are your units equivalent to Verra credits?+
They are not the same. Voluntary standards are private; CRCF is a public European framework. Voluntary standards currently have greater international liquidity, while CRCF is designed for the European framework.
Is Climate Standard recognised by the European Commission?+
Not yet. Recognition for carbon-farming methodologies can be requested after the relevant delegated act enters into force. Recognition does not automatically convert units issued before the Commission decision into CRCF units.
How much does it cost?+
There is an audit fee and a fee per issued unit, with no fixed annual registry charge.
How large must a project be?+
The relevant measure is units, not area alone. Below roughly 200 units per year, joining an operator group may be more sustainable.
I already started. Am I excluded?+
Not necessarily. Projects started no more than three years earlier may qualify if the starting situation is supported by dated evidence.
Who owns the units?+
The operator. Climate Standard does not develop projects or buy and sell units; it certifies and operates the registry.
Tell us about your project
Seven questions, two minutes. We reply within 24 hours with an initial eligibility view.
This is not a commitment; it helps establish quickly whether proceeding makes sense.
Not sure whether you qualify?
Write to us anyway. Part of our job is telling you whether starting makes sense, and sometimes the answer is no.