Carbon registry
A system recording carbon projects, unit issuance, transfers and final use.
Example
Unique serial numbers help track units through a programme.
The catch
Registry transparency should be considered alongside methodology and assurance.
In more depth
Carbon registry, explained.
A carbon registry is where you check whether a credit claim is real, because its public records show the serial numbers, the project, the credit vintage and the account that retired each unit. A credible retirement record names the beneficiary and the purpose. If a company says it retired credits and no matching entry exists, the claim has nothing beneath it.
Programmes run their own registries for voluntary credits, and governments run separate ones for compliance schemes such as the EU Emissions Trading System. The main risk sits at the joins. A project listed on two registries, or a credit copied onto another platform, can lead to double counting unless each record points clearly to the original and cancels it.