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CERT Foundation
Methodologies

Approved methodologies. Conservative principles. Published diffs.

Every CERT methodology follows the same conservative principles: transparent baselines, published benchmarks, mandatory sensitivity analysis, and a single financial additionality test. Version history and change-logs are published for every release.

Sectoral scope

The CERT Standard supports emission reductions and removals across the following sectors. New sectoral methodologies are developed by the Standards Committee, opened for public review, and approved by the Board with a 2/3 supermajority.

Nature-based — land & forests

Improved forest management, avoided deforestation, afforestation & reforestation with mixed native species.

Blue carbon

Mangroves, seagrasses, tidal marsh restoration and conservation — conservative accounting, Buffer Pool applied.

Renewable energy

Grid-connected solar PV, onshore & offshore wind, small hydro — utility-scale and distributed.

Energy transition

Green hydrogen production, storage integration and industrial heat electrification.

Engineered removals

Direct air capture with permanent geological storage; binding replacement obligation on reversals.

Biochar & soil carbon

Biochar production with agricultural application; soil organic carbon build-up on cropland and grazing land.

Enhanced rock weathering

Mineral weathering of finely ground silicate rocks on agricultural land for durable inorganic carbon removal.

Industrial process abatement

Non-CO₂ gases (N₂O, CH₄, HFCs) and process emissions from cement, chemicals and metals.

How every methodology is built

  • Conservative baselines. Baselines are set on published data, refreshed on a defined cadence, and biased conservatively where data quality is limited.
  • Financial additionality only. A single objective test — IRR/LCOE against a published sectoral benchmark. No barrier narratives.
  • Mandatory sensitivity analysis. ±10% variation on key inputs; crossing the benchmark under sensitivity means the project is not additional.
  • Digital MRV supported. Meters, sensors and satellite data can be ingested directly. Reference architecture is published.
  • Buffer Pool or replacement obligation. Nature-based projects contribute risk-rated percentages to the pooled Buffer Pool; engineered projects carry a 12-month binding replacement obligation.
  • Full transparency. Every project document, monitoring report, verification report and issuance decision is published — machine-readable, free, forever.

Applying a methodology

Developers select an applicable methodology at listing. Where an activity does not fit within an existing methodology, a proponent may request a new methodology or a targeted revision.

Requesting a new methodology

  1. Submit a Methodology Concept Note using the CERT template.
  2. Standards Committee reviews for scope, novelty and rigour within 30 working days.
  3. If accepted, the proponent works with the Standards Committee on a full draft — all diffs are versioned.
  4. Public review of the draft, followed by Standards Committee recommendation and Board approval by 2/3 supermajority.
  5. Published methodology carries a unique ID (e.g. CERT-M-XXX v1.0) and a change-log.
Where to find the templates
Project Description, Monitoring Report, Verification Report and Joint templates are available on the Templates & Tools page. All templates are versioned in step with the methodology.