Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Registry?
The Gold Standard Registry is a Web-based software application that serves as both the Gold Standard project database for VER and CDM/JI projects and as the mint and the bank for Gold Standard Voluntary Emission Reductions (VER) credits. All Gold Standard VER credits will be issued and tracked within the Registry via unique serial numbers. Registry account holders will be able to reflect transfers of VER credits with other account holders and retire VER credits. The Registry’s data infrastructure prevents double-counting of VER credits and provides numerous public reports and a full audit trail of all transactions to ensure the integrity of the Gold Standard VER credits.

The Registry software was developed and is maintained by APX, Inc, the leading infrastructure provider for environmental markets in greenhouse gases and renewable energy.

How does the Registry work?
The Registry stores and publicly displays project information for Gold Standard carbon offset projects. The Registry facilitates the Gold Standard project validation, registration, and verification processes, which involves coordinating activities between the public, Gold Standard staff, Designated Operational Entities (DOEs), and industry experts. Once a project is registered and the emission offsets are verified, Gold Standard staff will use the Registry to deposit into the project developer’s account one VER credit for every tonne of offset emissions verified. The project developer then uses the Registry to transfer the VER credits to another account holder or retire the credits within the Registry. Account holders receiving VER credits from a project developer use the Registry to retire the credits or to transfer the credits to another account holder.

The Registry ensures the integrity of the VER credits through a transaction based data structure designed to prevent double counting and provide full audit trail capabilities. Additionally, the Registry provides numerous publicly accessible reports that list Registry Account Holders, the status of Gold Standard offset projects, and information about both issued and retired credits.

Does the Registry track CERs and ERUs?
The Registry only serves as the Gold Standard project database for CDM and JI projects. Instead of issuing CERs or ERUs, a Registry public report is used to display the Gold Standard certified CDM and JI projects and the range of UNFCCC serial numbers that have been certified for the CERs or ERUs. The Registry does not provide ownership or retirement status for CERs or ERUs, only whether the credits have been Gold Standard certified. The reason for this is that one credit can only be held in one registry, and CERs/ERUs are already issued by the UNFCCC registries and held in UNFCCC-linked registries. Currently, there are no automated linkages between these registries and the Gold Standard Registry.

Who can use the registry?
Anyone can have an account in the Gold Standard Registry. Obtaining a Registry account requires completing the account registration process and paying the account registration fees. Accounts are free for project holders.

What type of Account should I register?

General Account

General Account types are accounts which will participate in the Registry as project developers, brokers, marketers and traders. If your account intends to perform any actions related to the above account types, you will want to select General Account. Further distinctions within the General Account type are detailed below.

General Account: type of account for account holders who want to hold, transfer and retire credits but are not project developers and are not GS Reviewers

General Account/Project developer: type of account for account holders who plan to submit projects for GS accreditation

General Account/Reviewer: type of account for account holders which are not project developers but do want to be able to hold, transfer, retire credits and are at the same time GS Reviewers (i.e. GS NGO supporters)

General Account/Project Developer/Reviewer: type of account for project developers who also happen to be GS Reviewers (i.e. part of the GS supporter NGOs)

DOE

The DOE account will allow organizations providing verification and validation services for Gold Standard projects to view project information and documents for projects to which they have been assigned.

Reviewer

The Reviewer account will allow entities designated by the Gold Standard Foundation to view limited project information and documents for projects in various registration phases in the Registry.

What information is public? 
The Gold Standard has attempted to strike a balance between respecting the privacy of certain account holders and providing the public with complete Registry transparency. As a result, the Registry provides a number of publicly accessible reports that provide comprehensive information about the carbon offset projects and their related credits without requiring account holders to disclose their presence or their credit inventory. The reports provide comprehensive information about all carbon offset projects and identify how many credits have been issued for each project. The reports also identify which credits have been retired and provide the public with a serial number look up feature to verify the status of VER credits. While account holders are given the ability to make public the details about the credits retired in their accounts, account holders can elect not to be listed or identified on any public report. An identifier number will be listed instead.

Who can retire credits? Can I retire my own? 
Any account holder in possession of VER credits, including their own, can retire the credits.

Can I trace my own credits? 
Yes, to a large extent. Issuance and retirement of VER credits is made public. However, account holders are not required to disclose the credits held in their account or information about credits transfers. When account holders retire credits, they are not required to disclose their identity. This is the current level of public information and disclosure agreed upon by the Gold Standard and its stakeholders.

Is the registry fungible with other standards or registries? 
Currently, the Gold Standard Registry only issues and tracks Gold Standard VER credits. There are no current agreements in place for transferring VER credits between other registries, although such transfers might be contemplated in the future and there is no technological barrier to doing so.

Who is APX?
APX is the leading infrastructure provider for environmental and energy markets in renewable energy and greenhouse gases including carbon commodities. Providing a bank and mint for environmental commodities, the APX Environmental Market Depository™ is trusted to create, track, manage, and retire renewable energy certificates (RECs), energy efficiency and conservation certificates, carbon offset credits such as voluntary emissions reductions (VERs), and greenhouse gas emission allowances. The company is the system of choice for every major renewable energy market in North America and greenhouse gas markets worldwide. APX also provides technology, strategic consulting, and expert operational services to assist wholesale power market participants reduce costs and improve performance in power scheduling, settlement, market operations, system operations support, and demand response programs. A privately held company, APX is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA

APX tracking and registry services provide 24/7 support of environmental markets through secure, fully staffed and geographically redundant data centers. Users of these systems include all key market participants including brokers, corporations, generators, NGOs and government organizations. In 2008, more than 1000 companies across the US and internationally will rely on APX for integrity in environmental markets.

How do I get more information?
For more information visit http://goldstandard.apx.com or email registry@cdmgoldstandard.org