Open-source solution that helps countries securely issue, monitor, and trade carbon credits
Digital For Climate (D4C), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), European Space Agency (ESA), and World Bank Group.
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change that aims to limit global warming to below 2°C, with efforts to keep it to 1.5°C by 2100. Article 6 sets out ways for countries to work together toward these targets through both market-based and non-market approaches. A key requirement under the Paris Agreement is that countries must transparently account for carbon credits that are generated, used, or transferred especially when they relate to their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This ensures consistency, prevents double counting, and upholds trust in both compliance and voluntary markets. However, without robust digital systems, tracking and managing these transactions becomes fragmented, vulnerable to errors, and difficult to verify. This undermines trust, data integrity, and the transparency needed for effective global cooperation. This makes digital carbon registries essential for tracking and managing carbon credits, maintaining data integrity, and ensuring consistent reporting.
However, many countries face significant challenges in establishing these registries. Common barriers include:
At the global level, isolated, country-by-country development, often without standardised international schemas, results in fragmented solutions, longer lead times, duplicated costs, vendor lock-in, and limited interoperability.
Drawing on its experience supporting countries with carbon market readiness, and recognising this global need, UNDP has developed the open-source National Carbon Credit Registry to provide a scalable, interoperable solution.
UNDP’s open-source National Carbon Registry provides countries with a comprehensive platform to implement and manage carbon markets. This all-in-one carbon management system enables governments to issue, track, and manage carbon credits with confidence, directly supporting the achievement of their national climate commitments. By offering free access to the source code and clear installation guidance, countries can tailor the Registry to their unique needs and context, saving time and resources while avoiding duplication of effort. This approach strengthens transparency, data integrity, and accountability, empowering countries to advance their climate goals more effectively.
Using UNDP's open-source code and templates as a starting point, countries can define their functional needs and customise the Registry to align with their specific workflows, policies, user groups, and data requirements.
A default process flow for Article 6.2 is built into the system, which can be adapted as needed to different countries’ unique requirements. The default workflow has the following steps:
By offering an open-source, accredited digital public good, the National Carbon Registry helps bridge the digital divide by making essential climate technology accessible to all countries, regardless of their technical starting point. Its adaptable, reusable software and design patterns allows nations to build and customize robust carbon market systems without bearing the high costs or long timelines typically associated with proprietary solutions. This inclusive approach ensures that even countries with limited digital infrastructure or resources can effectively participate in global carbon markets, advance their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, and benefit from shared knowledge and interoperable systems that promote collaboration and equitable access to digital climate solutions.
The open-source National Carbon Registry is enabling countries to establish secure, transparent carbon credit systems aligned with national carbon market frameworks. Côte d’Ivoire has launched its registry alongside a market policy and carbon market bureau, while Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe are in the final stages of deployment following recently adopted regulations. Nepal, Cambodia, Namibia, and Chile are advancing implementation in parallel with policy development, with additional countries preparing to start the process.
With the core features of the Registry in place, priority areas for future development include enhancing reporting functionality to fully align with UNFCCC requirements, improving integration of data at a global level, and facilitating interoperability and connection between national registries. There is strong interest from countries in connecting the Registry with voluntary market registries, the UNFCCC Article 6.4 mechanism, and peer registries under bilateral Article 6.2 agreements. Another priority is linking carbon market data directly to NDC tracking systems, creating a seamless flow between credit issuance, use, and national climate targets.
