How our carbon removal is certified

Name: neustark
Price range: $

Measuring our impact is only half the story. Every project we run is also independently verified.

Carbon removal only matters if it can be trusted. That's why every project we run goes through independent certification under carbon standards accredited by the ICVCM CCP.

Our projects are certified using a two-stage approach: validation and verification, each carried out by an independent, ISO-accredited auditor and reviewed by the certification standard before approval. Validation checks a project's eligibility, baseline, and monitoring plan before it can begin issuing credits. Verification then reviews the actual CO₂ removed against that plan, on a recurring basis.

Each stage is ultimately approved by our certification standards, Gold Standard and puro, two of the carbon market's leading standards for high-quality carbon removal.

Our methodology is built on precise, physical measurement, supplemented with measured activity data and established emissions factors. It covers everything from mass-flow tracking to grey emissions, and defines exactly how a tonne of CO₂ removed is calculated.

Learn about our methodology

Step 1: Validation

Before a project can begin issuing credits, it's evaluated against the applicable standard and regulatory requirements including eligibility, baseline determination, and demonstration of additionality. We draw up a project design document, hold a stakeholder consultation, and go through a preliminary review before the project is formally validated by our certification standard.

Step 2: Verification

Once a project is up and running, its carbon dioxide removal calculations are reviewed against the approved monitoring plan and supporting reference data. Neustark has its impact verified on a quarterly to yearly basis: we compile a comprehensive monitoring report covering our source and storage sites and cumulative storage performance. Our certification standard’s auditors then thoroughly verify it, including on-site visits to check our technology and CO2 flow measurements, and a rigorous review of our own and our partners' quality documentation. Upon successful verification, the corresponding carbon credits are issued.

Our certification standards

Gold Standard

Gold Standard was established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs to ensure that projects reducing and removing carbon emissions meet the highest levels of environmental integrity while also contributing to sustainable development.

Learn more about Gold Standard

Puro

Puro.earth is a leading standard dedicated specifically to engineered, durable carbon removal, as opposed to nature-based or avoidance-based credits. Founded in Finland in 2019, it certifies methods like mineralization, biochar, and other technology-based removal solutions that lock CO₂ away for centuries or longer.

Learn more about puro

FOEN

For our domestic Swiss projects, we also work with the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), which registers approved carbon storage projects as recognized climate protection programmes under the Swiss CO₂ Act.

A quality carbon credit means one ton of carbon dioxide has been reduced or removed from the atmosphere. It also means that this reduction or removal has been certified under an internationally recognized carbon standard – such as Gold Standard.
Additionality means that the removals in emissions achieved by the project must be “above business as usual". That means they would not have happened unless the project was implemented.
Durable means: the fraction of carbon dioxide stored through mineral carbonation that is retained after 1000 years is virtually certain to be 100%. The risk of reversal, i.e. that the carbon sequestered is released again into the atmosphere, is negligeable. Even if the concrete in which the CO₂ is injected gets demolished again and again, the CO₂ will not be released into the atmosphere.

Neustark’s solution is highly permanent, binding CO₂ for thousands to millions of years.

Want know more about our certification process?

Reach out to us today!

Joana Vieira Duarte

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