Singapore, Gold Standard, and Verra publish crediting protocol

18 December 2025

On 12 November 2025, the National Climate Change Secretariat (“NCCS”) announced that the Government of Singapore and the world’s largest independent crediting standards, Gold Standard and Verra, have published the final version of the Article 6.2 Crediting Protocol (“Protocol”). The Protocol will support governments in their use of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (“Article 6”) to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (“NDCs”) and sustainable development goals by using carbon credits issued to projects registered with independent crediting standards.

Article 6.2 allows governments and private sector participants to cooperate internationally through market-based mechanisms to achieve their NDC targets. Governments can leverage existing independent crediting standards, which are widely used by private sector participants and have robust and credible track records, to certify their emission reductions and removals. This approach relieves participating governments of the need to develop their own national crediting standards, while tapping into the proven expertise of existing voluntary carbon market infrastructure.

The Protocol is a voluntary initiative established by the Government of Singapore, Verra, and Gold Standard in response to interest among governments in using existing and proven independent crediting standards infrastructure for registering mitigation activities, conducting their measurement, reporting and verification, and issuing and managing the resulting carbon credits. The Protocol builds on requirements established under the Paris Agreement for Article 6.2 by elaborating on how parties and independent crediting standards can work together in a harmonised manner.

Key features of the Protocol include:

• description of the roles and responsibilities of governments, independent standards, and market participants participating in Article 6.2;
• standardised communication procedures to ensure the integrity of the carbon credits’ Article 6 status, including authorisation, first transfer, retirement/use, and corresponding adjustments;
• standardised labelling of the carbon credits’ Article 6 status in the registries of the independent standards;
• reporting guidelines on how independent standards can support governments in their reporting requirements under Article 6; and
• recommended practices for governments, independent standards, and market participants to improve the efficiency and integrity of their cooperation under Article 6.2.

In the coming year, the three organisations will work with interested governments, independent crediting standards, and market stakeholders to pilot and operationalise the Protocol, while exploring an inclusive and effective governance framework for it. Beyond that, NCCS, Gold Standard, and Verra are committed to incorporating feedback from governments, other independent standards, and market stakeholders to further strengthen the Protocol.

Reference materials

The following materials are available on the NCCS website www.nccs.gov.sg:

• Press release: Singapore Gold Standard and Verra publish crediting protocol
• Article 6.2 Crediting Protocol