Sylvera's guide is extremely relevant to corporates looking to learn about the options available in the voluntary carbon market. It covers how to conduct carbon credit due diligence and explains the different project types. It covers the benefits of each credit type and explains how corporates can avoid some of the biggest risks of the market.

The SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard is the world’s first framework for corporate net-zero target setting in line with climate science. This is a key resource for corporates developing their emission reduction strategies. The Standard covers near-term and long-term targets; residual emissions and beyond value chain mitigation.

Produced by the GHG Management Institute and Stockholm Environment Institute, this is a website intended to promote the potential of carbon markets and explain their functioning to corporates. It produces research on an ongoing basis to inform policymakers and the general public about both voluntary and regulatory carbon offset standards and policies.

The Carbon Credit Quality Initiative offers independent scorings to measure the quality of carbon credits. Produced by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Oeko-Institut and World Wildlife Fund (WWF-US), it is a useful and ongoing resource to help carbon credit buyers identify high quality in the market. It is a unique initiative because: It is not funded by revenues related to carbon credits; the experts providing the assessments are not employed by project developers or carbon crediting programs; and it scores credits on an interval scale, not on a binary basis.

Gold Standard's tracker is intended to enhance the transparency of carbon market regulations, and support governments, project developers, investors, and other market participants in navigating the evolving regulatory landscape. This ongoing project visualises carbon market regulations by country on its map and allows users to explore by country.

The highly influential report is essential reading for anyone entering the voluntary carbon market. First published in November 2022, by The United Nations’ high-level expert group on the net zero emissions commitments of non-state entities, it gives ten recommendations to help establish a clear standard and criteria for net zero. These ideas are designed to bring greater integrity, transparency and accountability to climate goals. It draws a ‘red line’ under greenwashing with its determined work to end dishonest carbon accounting and reporting.

What do you think of nature-based solutions? If you’re unsure, this academic paper could be for you. Published in Nature Climate Change in March 2024, it assesses the scientific basis of 43 nature-based solutions using an extensive literature review and expert elicitation. It revealed that the most used pathways, such as tropical forest conservation, have a solid scientific basis for mitigation.

This report from The Nature Conservancy helps buyers navigate the voluntary carbon market. Produced in March 2023 – a time when so much of the market was in flux – this report helps reduce risk for those looking to buy carbon credits. It provides guidance on due diligence and equips businesses with the knowledge to identify high-quality credits.

In July 2024 The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published a discussion paper on the SBTi’s proposed revisions to its Scope 3 requirements. WWF emphasised that it promotes, first and foremost, a reduction of value chain emissions. It restates its support for carbon credits being used to support within value chain emission reduction but only supports their use for outside value chain reduction in the case of residual emissions. However, WWF would like to see companies investing outside of their value chains to support the Global South with additional climate finance.