FAQs

A Sylvera carbon credit rating assesses the likelihood that the credits issued by a carbon project have delivered on their claims of avoiding (meaning reducing) or removing of one metric ton of carbon dioxide (tCO2), or other greenhouse gasses (GHGs), measured in CO2 equivalent (tCO2e).

This Sylvera rating is reflected on a scale from highly likely to have delivered on its claims, AAA, to least least likely to have delivered on its claims, D.

A Sylvera rating is a combination of three core scoring pillars: carbon, additionality and permanence.

Alongside each rating, we also make a co-benefits score of the carbon project available. This is an assessment of the biodiversity and community co-benefits of projects. The co-benefits score isn’t included in the Sylvera rating because the primary function of a Sylvera rating is to assess the likelihood that the claimed GHGs have been avoided or removed. We also want to prevent a high co-benefits score from inflating the Sylvera rating of a project that’s underperforming from the perspective of avoiding or removing GHGs.

In addition to a co-benefits score, we also provide all the underlying analysis we used to arrive at a Sylvera rating, as well as extensive commentary about the carbon project and credits analyzed, alongside each rating. We recommend that you only use Sylvera ratings in conjunction with this in-depth information we provide.

Sylvera ratings are updated quarterly and when significant events occur.

Learn more here.

Private firms — from corporate buyers to banks, asset managers, insurers, trading firms, and consultancies — and governments with net zero commitments rely on Sylvera data to ensure they're making the most effective investments.

Our ratings offer greater depth, accuracy, objectivity, and transparency than other carbon credit ratings providers. Our frameworks are peer-reviewed by external experts and made publicly available.

We regularly update our ratings and work on continuously improving our processes. Our team is part of several influential groups and we invest in world-leading research and development.

We also go beyond ratings; we offer a full suite of data and tools about carbon markets and net zero journeys.

Read more about how we’re different here.

The pricing data in our carbon intelligence platform comes from Allied Offsets and Viridios AI. The price displayed first is the price of the last-traded, latest vintage. We only show pricing data after 2019.

Yes, we update our ratings quarterly and when significant events occur.

With a subscription, you can access our ratings through our web-based carbon intelligence platform or an API. Our API serves this data for presentation and analysis on other platforms, such as Xpansiv CBL and Climate Impact X. Want to see our web app in action? Request a demo here.

We offer an API that will allow you to incorporate Sylvera data into your platform. Get in touch with us so that we can know more about your specifications.

We started rating REDD+ projects first, because we believed it would give us the most significant, immediate impact on the climate. Nature-based credits account for the lion's share of credits on the VCM, with AUD REDD+ accounting for a significant portion.

Since our early days with REDD+, we’ve expanded to rate a number of project categories. It’s our goal to rate every kind of carbon project. Check-in regularly for updates about the launch of new project ratings.

Unlike many rating providers, we maintain our independence by not accepting payments from developers to rate their projects. However, we believe it is critical to engage with developers throughout the rating process to secure additional information required to accurately rate a project and give developers the right of reply and opportunity to provide additional evidence.

A carbon offset is a name given to a carbon credit when it is retired by an organization to make the claim that it is compensating for its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

A carbon credit is a tradable unit representing one metric ton of carbon dioxide (CO2), or an equivalent amount of another greenhouse gas (GHG), avoided or removed from Earth's atmosphere.

Carbon markets are places where carbon credits and allowances are bought, sold and exchanged. There are two general types of carbon markets, those that are mandatory to participate in, known as compliance or regulatory markets, and those that are entered into freely, known as voluntary carbon markets or VCMs. Compliance markets function on a cap-and-trade emissions trading system where units known as “allowances” are exchanged. Voluntary carbon markets function on a free, unregulated market where units known as carbon credits are exchanged. Sylvera’s work focuses mainly on VCMs.

No. We don't, and will never, sell credits or receive kick-backs from projects we rate on our platform. This will continue to always ensure our independence and impartiality. An external governance body, composed of independent individuals, also holds us to account.

We believe that in order for VCMs to scale, the market needs independent data verification. Many of the challenges of VCMs arise from an inherent conflict of interest in the broker-led model, where there is a disincentive to provide transparent, up-to-date information on underlying project performance and quality.

No, we don’t provide certifications for any climate commitments.

Sylvera is a leading carbon data provider. Our mission is to incentivize investment in real climate action. To help organizations ensure they're making the most effective investments toward net zero, we build software that independently and accurately automates the evaluation of carbon projects that capture, remove, or avoid emissions. With Sylvera's data and tools, businesses and governments can confidently invest in, benchmark, deliver, and report real climate impact.