OUR PROGRAMME
"For institutional buyers, carbon credit integrity is non-negotiable. Only the highest standards of verification, governance, transparency, and measurable impact deliver credible, regulation-ready outcomes."
OUR CARBON CREDITING PROGRAMME
The Platinum Programme™ issues compliance-grade carbon credits — the highest quality tier accepted by regulators worldwide for direct use against carbon tax obligations and stringent ESG reporting.
The Platinum Programme™ is not just a registry.
It is a fully integrated carbon-crediting programme that manages the entire lifecycle of compliance-grade carbon credits in-house — from project development through validation, verification, issuance, and retirement. The registry function is only a small part of what we do. Nothing in the value chain is outsourced. This complete end-to-end control ensures the highest levels of integrity and quality for the institutional-grade carbon credits issued by the Carbon Fund.
Key Difference between the Platinum Programme™ and Traditional Registers
Unlike traditional registers, which earn revenue through upfront registry fees, account fees, and review charges regardless of whether credits are ever issued, the Platinum Programme™ earns nothing until carbon credits are successfully issued and sold.
We take on all the risk with no upfront reward. This alignment of interests ensures we are fully incentivised to deliver only high-quality, compliance-grade credits.
Instead, the Carbon Fund fully funds all costs — registration fees, project development, validation, verification, and issuance — at zero upfront cost to project owners. In return, we receive only a mandate to issue and sell the credits on their behalf.
Project owners retain 100% legal ownership of the credits and receive an equitable share of the revenue.
The Carbon Fund has no interest in disappointing project owners.
This risk-sharing model delivers far higher integrity, lower risk for buyers, and better economics for both project owners and institutional end buyers.
Below is a more detailed comparison:
| Feature | Platinum Programme™ |
|---|---|
| End-to-End Value Chain | Full in-house management of the entire value chain – from project development through validation, verification, issuance, and retirement (nothing outsourced) |
| Independent Verification | ISO 14064-3:2019 for independent verification of historical GHG emissions |
| Compliance-Grade Issuance | Yes – specifically designed for carbon tax obligations and stringent ESG reporting |
| SDG Revenue Commitment | 10% of revenue ring-fenced and allocated directly to verified SDG impacts |
| Cost to Project Owners | Project owners pay nothing upfront – all development, validation, verification and registration costs are fully funded by the Carbon Fund |
| Credit Ownership | Project owners retain 100% legal ownership at all times. We never take ownership – only a mandate to develop, issue and sell on their behalf |
| End Buyer Protection | Reinsurer-backed cashback warranty – institutional buyers receive full refund if credits cannot be used for intended ESG claims or carbon tax purposes |
| Local Revenue Return | 50% of offshore USD revenue returned to the project country for additional renewable projects and community upliftment |
| Article 6.4 | Aligned with Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement |
METHODOLOGY & VERIFICATION STANDARD
The Platinum Programme™ adopts internationally recognised CDM methodologies (governed by the UNFCCC CDM Executive Board) together with ISO 14064:2019, the global standard for independent validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions.
Why this approach delivers superior integrity and efficiency:
By building on proven, regulator-tested global standards refined over decades through thousands of real-world projects, the Platinum Programme™ ensures environmental integrity, additionality, conservative accounting, and verifiable emission reductions that regulators and institutional buyers trust.
This approach allows us to focus resources where they matter most: full in-house project development, zero-upfront-cost funding for project owners, rapid issuance, and measurable impact on the ground. It also provides the rigorous, evidence-based assurance — with materiality thresholds, risk evaluation, and independent third-party oversight — that underwriters and insurers require when providing comprehensive financial protection and cashback warranties.
In South Africa, CDM is formally recognised under the Carbon Tax Act (Act No. 15 of 2019) as an Approved Project for compliance offsetting. This alignment delivers immediate regulatory acceptance for carbon tax purposes.
The result is compliance-grade carbon credits with genuine contract certainty and lower risk for all parties.
WHY IS A COMMITMENT TO IMPACT CRITICAL?
A Carbon Crediting Programme must deliver more than emission reductions. It should also generate measurable social and environmental co-benefits aligned with the sustainable development objectives explicitly covered in the Paris Agreement .
The Carbon Fund's Platinum Programme™ commits 10% of all carbon credit revenue directly to verified SDG-linked impacts. This ring-fenced allocation is mandatory for every project and enhances the overall integrity and value of each credit while supporting community resilience and just transitions in project host countries.
WHY IS EX POST (HISTORICAL) ISSUANCE CRITICAL?
Our Carbon Crediting Programme only issues carbon credits ex post — only after independent verification of actual, historical GHG emission reductions. This ensures that every compliance-grade credit issued represents real, measurable, and permanent climate impact.
This approach strengthens environmental integrity, protects buyers from over-crediting risk, and builds long-term trust. In contrast, ex ante issuance based on forecasts carries higher uncertainty.
WHY IS RETIREMENT CRITICAL?
Retirement permanently removes a carbon credit from circulation, preventing any reuse and avoiding double counting. It safeguards environmental integrity and confirms that real finance has successfully flowed to verified greenhouse gas reductions and associated SDG impacts.
Our Carbon Crediting Programme retires all credits upon purchase in both compliance and voluntary market contexts.
WHY ARE POLICIES AND PRINCIPLES IMPORTANT?
Our Carbon Crediting Programme is guided by clear, robust policies to ensure the highest levels of environmental integrity and regulatory credibility.
The Platinum Programme™ is designed to exceed the (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles:
| (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principle | Description | Platinum Programme™ |
|---|---|---|
| Effective Governance | Strong governance ensuring transparency, accountability, and credit quality. | Strong alignment through published rules, independent oversight, and reinsurer-backed cashback warranty. |
| Tracking & Transparency | Secure tracking and comprehensive public information on credited activities. | Strong alignment via transparent processes and immediate retirement to prevent double counting. |
| Robust Independent Verification | Independent third-party validation and verification of activities. | Strong alignment through ISO 14064-3:2019 independent verification of historical GHG emissions. |
| Additionality & Permanence | Reductions are additional and permanent (or reversal risks addressed). | Strong alignment, including unique ability to issue backdated credits to 1 Jan 2017 while meeting additionality. |
| Robust Quantification & No Double Counting | Conservative, scientific quantification with no double counting. | Strong alignment through ex-post issuance based on verified historical data and immediate retirement. |
| Sustainable Development Benefits | Positive social/environmental impacts and safeguards. | Strong alignment via 10% revenue commitment to SDGs, equitable revenue share for project owners, and 50% of offshore revenue returned locally for community uplift and renewable projects. |
WHY IS TRANSPARENT AND PREDICTABLE PRICING IMPORTANT?
The Carbon Fund’s issued compliance-grade carbon credits are offered at a 50% discount to the published South African carbon tax rate for the relevant offset year.
This transparent and predictable pricing removes volatility and allows institutional buyers to plan with confidence and integrate carbon costs into long-term budgeting and tax provisioning.
Our Carbon Crediting Programme automatically includes a reinsurer-backed cashback warranty on all issued carbon credits. Should the credits not be usable for the buyer’s intended ESG claims or carbon tax obligations, the purchase value is protected. This warranty is provided at no additional cost and is backed by a regulated global licensed reinsurer.
This warranty is provided at no additional cost and is backed by a regulated global licensed insurer.
Our Carbon Crediting Program automatically embeds an insurance-backed cash back warranty on all issued carbon credits.
Should the credits not be usable for the buyer’s intended ESG claims or carbon tax obligations, the underwriter and the end buyer's purchase value is protected.
This warranty is:
- Provided at no additional cost to the buyer
- Backed by a regulated global licensed insurer
- Designed to give institutional buyers the contract certainty and risk protection