Gold Standard Sets Rules For Engineered Carbon Removal

In a significant move to enhance credibility and climate impact in the fast-growing carbon removal sector, Gold Standard has introduced its Engineered Removals Activity Requirements, a strong new framework to ensure high-integrity carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects meet strict sustainability, reversal, and monitoring criteria. This update marks an important milestone in building trust around engineered removals like carbon mineralization and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). It offers clear guidelines and certification pathways that align with global climate goals.

The new framework focuses on a science-based, accountable approach to engineered removals. It aims to ensure projects not only permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere but also support sustainable development. Every certified engineered removal project will now need to back at least three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This integrates environmental justice and social benefits into the core of these technical climate solutions.

“Measuring accurately and using removal credits responsibly are essential,” said Dr. Fiona Perera, Methodology Development Manager at Gold Standard and a member of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Removals Expert Working Group. She explained that the credibility of engineered CDR depends on transparency, verifiability, and long-term climate benefits—attributes that the updated requirements aim to enforce strictly.

The framework includes several key integrity mechanisms. It mandates reversal risk mitigation strategies, requires contributions to a buffer pool to guard against unintentional carbon releases, and ensures alignment with leading global and regional carbon accounting standards, such as the EU’s Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF), the International Civil Aviation Organization’s CORSIA scheme, Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, and national climate policies. This alignment is meant to ensure that projects fit well with emerging compliance and voluntary markets, helping developers achieve broader acceptance and financing.

In addition to the policy framework, Gold Standard has also updated and expanded its methodologies for engineered removals. Two major methodologies were updated in June 2025. The first focuses on carbon mineralization and was developed in partnership with Swiss-based startup Neustark. It now includes a wider range of mineral waste types and improved baseline calculations to reflect different geochemical conditions. The second, developed with Summit Carbon Solutions, extends the scope of biomass fermentation with CCS to include a broader array of BECCS applications and industrial CO₂ sources. These upgrades improve the scientific quality of the methodologies and expand their usability across various sectors and locations.

These developments follow Gold Standard’s groundbreaking work in 2022, when it launched its first engineered CDR methodology focused on concrete carbonation. The initial batch of carbon removal credits from this methodology was issued in April 2024, setting a standard for measurable and certifiable engineered removals in the voluntary carbon market.

CEO Margaret Kim reinforced the organization’s commitment to maintaining integrity in a field often criticized for a lack of transparency. “Engineered removals are vital for achieving a 1.5 °C pathway. We are applying the same integrity we’ve brought to biological removals for two decades,” Kim stated. She encouraged developers and stakeholders to engage with the new framework, submit concept notes for new engineered CDR methodologies, and collaborate with Gold Standard to ensure their solutions effectively contribute to climate and development goals.

Looking ahead, a new methodology for biochar-based carbon removal is under development. It will cover a wide range of systems—from small-scale artisanal kilns to large industrial biochar production—showing Gold Standard’s commitment to making engineered CDR both inclusive and scalable. Additionally, a Just and Sustainable Transitions Framework is being created to support the engineered removals approach, ensuring community involvement and fair benefits are integrated throughout project lifecycles.

By establishing strict expectations for quality, transparency, and alignment with climate science, Gold Standard’s new requirements will likely shape how engineered CDR projects are developed, funded, and assessed. They also reflect a growing agreement that the credibility of carbon removal credits must meet the urgency of the climate crisis. As countries and corporations strive to reach net-zero targets, frameworks like this could play an essential role in directing finance toward solutions that are not only technologically sound but also socially responsible.