Accounting for Nature (AFN) has partnered with an Australian technology solutions firm to develop digital infrastructure linking environmental improvements to eligible carbon credits, they announced Tuesday.
AFN CEO Adrian Ward said in a statement the company’s partnership with Sydney-based Trovio Group marked a significant milestone for the company.
“We are thrilled to partner with Trovio on this ambitious project, one which will support the issuance of high-integrity carbon offsets with environmental benefits by existing voluntary carbon offsetting standards,” Ward said.
The new market infrastructure will introduce a registry platform allowing customers to digitally assign environmental co-benefits to carbon credits globally, with the benefits verified through AFN’s Certified Environmental Accounts, according to the statement.
“This new digital registry will enable us to deliver enhanced value to our customers and the market, permitting them to link Accounting for Nature Certified Environmental Accounts with carbon offsets to make credible claims around the additional benefits for nature,” Ward added.
Trovio CEO Jon Deane said the new platform is designed to be compatible with a wide range of registries.
“Trovio’s Cortenx, an application programming interface first technology offered as a platform service, provides critical infrastructure to scale currently fragmented environmental asset markets,” he said.
The statement did not provide a timeline on when the new platform would be launched, however AFN said it would be underpinned by its Carbon Linking Rules, which are due for release in the first half of 2024.
The rules will use the Econd index, which scores environmental assets between 0-100, with 100 representing the most pristine or undegraded asset or ecosystem, that can be used to track the condition of nature anywhere in the world at scale, according to AFN.
Examples AFN gave of what co-benefits the platform could demonstrate included verifying uplift for soil health, habitat, and biodiversity, forest conditions, and water quality.
AFN and Trovio said they would be working with multiple stakeholders over the next 12-18 months, including the Queensland government’s Land Restoration Fund, Greencollar, CO2 Australia, and Bush Heritage Australia.
Last month, Trovio was selected by Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator to develop a unit and certificate registry to house Australian Carbon Credit Units, as well as other credits and certificates.
Trovio and AFN said more information about its new service offering would be released in the first half of this year.
By Mark Tilly – mark@carbon-pulse.com
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