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  • RFC Regen Network is proposing an approval of Regen Registry, credit type carbon

Regen Network is proposing an approval of Regen Registry, credit type carbon.

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What is Regen Registry?
Regen Registry is a web3 native ecological service registry operating in the voluntary market that aims to support climate action by accelerating the adoption of nature-based solutions which regenerate and restore natural ecosystems. Regen Registry credits are nature-based solutions, which provide ecosystem integrity, including GHG emission reductions and removals, biodiversity/habitat protection, improvement in water quality, etc.

How does Regen Registry work?
The Regen Registry Handbook outlines the processes by which different stakeholders can engage in the creation of new methodologies and programs used to develop projects and issue ecocredits using features provided by the Regen Marketplace App.The handbook also outlines the general requirements for the quantification, monitoring, reporting, verification (MRV), project registration, administration and issuance of credits, and governance of the registry standards.

The Regen Ledger is the underlying blockchain infrastructure that stores all information related to claims made on ecological state to provide an open and audible trail for assets issued on our platform.

The Regen Marketplace App is a front-end application which allows stakeholders to use Regen Ledger to register projects, buy, sell, and retire credits on an open marketplace, and engage in network governance.

What are the pieces of a credit standard on Regen Registry?

  1. Credit Class (the crediting standard): Credit classes are programs/protocols/standards which outline the rules and requirements for projects seeking to certify credits which can be sold on the voluntary market. We use the credit class to define credit type, credit unit, project activities and ecosystem types.
  2. Methodology (the climate science): The methodology details the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) process that is specific to a set of users, relating to a Credit Class..

What current credit standards are approved on Regen Registry?

  • CarbonPlus Grasslands Credit Class, author: Regen Network Development PBC (credit type: carbon; offset generation method: carbon removal)
  • GHG Benefits in Managed Crop and Grassland Systems Credit Class, author: Ecometric (credit type: carbon; offset generation method: carbon removal)

What current methodologies are approved on Regen Registry?

  • V1.0, Methodology for GHG and Co-benefits in Grazing System, author: Regen Network Development PBC, carbon removal
  • Appendix: In-Stand Surface Application of Biochar in Forestlands Methodology, author: Kulshan Carbon Trust, carbon removal
  • Soil Organic Carbon Estimation in Regenerative Cropping & Managed Grasslands Ecosystem, author: Ecometric, carbon removal

What credit standards &/or methodologies are under development on Regen Registry?

  • Over 40 climate-science methodologies are under development via Regen Registry.
  • Methodology for Measuring the Carbon Content in Agroforestry Systems, author: Courageous Lands (public comment)
  • Biodiversity Stewardship Tokens Methodology: Protocol for Ideation, Implementation & Monitoring, ERA Brazil (public comment)
  • Please also see the credit lookbook for the expanded credit standard and issuance pipeline, downloadable at . We expect 2 million + credits to be issued throughout the next calendar year from Regen Registry standards and projects.

How does your standard address the following concerns regarding carbon credit integrity?
At Regen Registry, each Credit Class and Methodology combination has unique answers to this series of questions. These market requirements are addressed within the Regen Registry methodology and credit class design processes.

The programmatic criteria for Regen Registry credit issuance requires:

  • All emission reductions and removals to be REAL

  • All emission reductions and removals to be MEASURABLE

  • All emission reductions and removals to be ADDITIONAL

  • All emission reductions and removals to be UNIQUE

  • One (1) ecocredit (credit type:carbon) is associated with a single emission reduction or removal as one (1) metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)

  • Credits are issued on Regen Ledger according to the decimal basis on the blockchain, which is 8 digits, therefore credits can be fractionalized.

  • Regen Ledger is architected to only allow for credit issuance for ex-post credits, at this time. In the event that ex-ante credit issuance is added to the Regen Ledger functionality, we would exclude credit type = carbon/credit issuance = ex-ante from the approved credit types for this proposal.

  • On Regen Marketplace, users can make carbon offsetting claims by retiring ex-post carbon credits. View this video to experience the functionality of retirement.

  • Regen Registry and the approved methodologies have not applied for ICROA or CORSIA approvals. At this time, the methodologies are so new to the market that this hasn’t been pursued, and must be led by the communities that own and govern each standard, not Regen Registry. At this time, there are no plans for ICROA application.

  • In the event that a technical use case is evaluated for this partnership, we will provide security information on that use-case basis. Regen Ledger is a public blockchain with golang modules, which are built and audited by a robust community of blockchain engineers in the Interchain. We are not a smart-contract platform at this time.

The following details are determined by each Credit Class and Methodology approved by Regen Registry uniquely, and thus the answers are not standard:

  • Each unique credit class and methodology assigns the instructions of co-benefits quantification uniquely.
  • Each credit class standard defines the 3rd party verification requirements uniquely.
  • Each credit credit class standard defines the project permanence requirements uniquely to each use case and methodology.

Technical Functionality

  • Users will choose the type and amount of credits as well as the name that will be attributed to the purchase. The user can choose to retire the credits right away, or to purchase the credits as “tradeable” for future retirement. If they choose “retirable” the name that is input will be changed upon final credit retirement.
  • Users will then pay for the credits on the Polygon chain in USDC.
  • If the “retirable” option is chosen, fungible credits will be deposited into the users wallet where they will be fully transferable. The Regen credits associated with the fungible tokens would sit in a separate smart contract awaiting retirement. These can be retired at any time. If the option to retire now is chosen then that would trigger the retirement on Regen and issue the proof of impact NFT.
  • Following the Regen retirement an NFT on Polygon will be generated as “proof of impact.” This NFT (ERC 721) will show the entity responsible for retirement, date, amount of credits retired, and project. The transaction hash from the Regen Network will be embedded into the NFT directly linking the NFT to the retirement on Regen. If “retirable” is chosen an NFT will be issued but no retirement hash will be available and the NFTs metadata will read “retirable”.
  • The EcoToken Marketplace is responsible for all $regen transaction fees to execute trade, purchase or retirements.

Go-to-Market and Traction:

  • In 2020, Microsoft purchased 124,000 soil organic carbon credits, the 1st credit issuance from Regen Registry, for their moonshot goal.
  • Regen Network also allows for the neutral use of our software stack by third-party crediting standards, like Toucan Protocol TCO2 and City Forest Credits.
  • In total, between these two registries plus Regen Registry, over 500k credits have been issued.
  • In the CosmosZERO campaign, 30k+ NCT credits were retired for protocol carbon footprint offsetting.

Value to KlimaDAO:
This partnership would provide Regen-issued carbon credit support for KlimaDAO’s retirement aggregator and Carbonmark marketplace. Regen Registry is focused on high-integrity credit origination with our worldwide network of project developers, and is delighted for the opportunity to partner with the KlimaDAO suite of projects that can serve the demand side of the market for our emergent and innovative credit standards.

KlimaDAO would play a role as a demand side partner. Ideally, the KlimaDAO community will engage in pre-purchases on Regen Registry credits as they are issued over the next 3 months - 3 years. With over 2,00,000 credits expected to be issued in 2023, worth over $12 million, the KlimaDAO community has the potential to be a critical on-chain demand partner. Each dollar from initial credit sale goes to project developers to support the expansion of their pilot on the ground ecological regeneration projects, thus catalyzing project development pipelines.

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Proposal: Regen Network is proposing an approval of Regen Registry, at the registry level, for all projects with credit type = carbon.

Discussion:
Should there be additional proposals offered for each unique standard to be accepted, so that the community can evaluate the detailed answers?
Or, is the approval at the Regen Registry registry level sufficient to allow all methodologies related to credit type = carbon to be automatically accepted to KlimaDAO’s Retirement Aggregator and for listing on Carbonmark?

SBax_Regen changed the title to RFC Regen Network is proposing an approval of Regen Registry, credit type carbon.

@SBax_Regen Thank you for submitting this comprehensive proposal - it's excellent to see an additional RFC from a blockchain-based carbon registry make its way to our forums (a sign of changing times in the industry!)

Regen is one of the pioneers of the Blockchain x Climate Finance space and a collaboration with KlimaDAO seems natural.

There are a few questions from my side that I’d like to dig into:

1) Currently there are two credit classes listed on Regen’s site (https://registry.regen.network/v/regen-registry-credit-classes/): CarbonPlus Grasslands Credit Class and the Verified Carbon Standard Credit Class. The latter I assume is related to Regen’s support of NCT credits bridged by Toucan Protocol. Can you clarify whether Regen intends to continue to support VCS credits when bridging is re-enabled by Verra?

2) The former credit class, CarbonPlus Grasslands, includes grassland management methodologies that restore grassland ecosystems and sequester carbon. Similarly, you’ve cited a GHG Benefits in Managed Crop and Grassland Systems Credit Class in this RFC. Do both of these Credit Classes utilize the V1.0 Methodology for GHG and Co-benefits in Grazing Systems? If so, what is the rational for having two separate credit classes that utilize the same methodology? If not, is there any difference between credits issued between these credit classes if they utilize the same underlying methodology?

3) Can you clarify whether the credits purchased by Microsoft in 2020 were from those issued under the V1.0 Methodology for GHG and Co-benefits in Grazing Systems? If not, what methodology was utilized by Regen for these?

4) Will a new credit class be developed to house the In-Stand Surface Application of Biochar in Forestlands methodology? Can you provide information on the expected issuance pipeline for this methodology? It looks like a link is missing to check the issuance pipeline in your RFC under the section What credit standards &/or methodologies are under development on Regen Registry.

5) Can you provide additional background on the bridging of these credits to the Polygon blockchain. Is it correct to say that credits issued on Polygon are immobilized on the Regen Registry to prevent double-use, and that retirements occurring on Polygon are communicated back to the Regen Registry to initiate retirements of these immobilized tonnes. Any color you can add on this process is appreciated (e.g. regarding the data structure and token type for these credits that are issued on Polygon as well as how you envision data being communicated from Klima’s Retirement Aggregator to the Regen Registry).

6) One critical point re. bridging: would credits issued on Polygon have the capability to be transferred and then bridged back to the Regen network? I.e. can the credits be re-mobilized if their representative Polygon token is burned?

Regarding your discussion point on the support of all credits with credit type = carbon, I would strongly advocate for a more conservative approach where specific methodologies that have shown traction in the market, as well as adequate review by third parties, are accepted into the KlimaDAO ecosystem. Initially, the three current methodologies cited in this RFC can play an important role in diversifying on-chain carbon offerings via CM that are lacking nature-based carbon removals and serve to validate demand for Regen-issued credits.

    Dionysus I will address the "registry questions" and then ask James from EcoToken to respond to your "technical questions."

    1) Can you clarify whether Regen intends to continue to support VCS credits when bridging is re-enabled by Verra?
    Yes, if the terms of service changes and Verra allows for the bridging/digitalization of their credits, Regen Network will support them. In fact, Verra or another bridging service (like Toucan or C3) can establish the credit class, administer it, and issue the credits from the bridge themselves, using our administration tools. Verra is already an approved registry on Regen Network.

    2) The former credit class, CarbonPlus Grasslands, includes grassland management methodologies that restore grassland ecosystems and sequester carbon. Similarly, you’ve cited a GHG Benefits in Managed Crop and Grassland Systems Credit Class in this RFC. Do both of these Credit Classes utilize the V1.0 Methodology for GHG and Co-benefits in Grazing Systems? If so, what is the rational for having two separate credit classes that utilize the same methodology? If not, is there any difference between credits issued between these credit classes if they utilize the same underlying methodology?

    There are two methodologies being developed with a similar use case. Both will be published and use-able for issuing credits via the credit class. Sometimes methodologies and credit classes have a 1:1 relationship, and sometimes a 1: many relationship. In this use case, the methodologies are different because the project in question, Ruuts, is using their existing methodology for historical project years, and then upgrading their data collection to be eligible to use the V1.0 Methodology for GHG and Co-benefits in Grazing Systems for future vintages. If you'd like a more scientific explanation, I can request content from our head of science, Dr. Gisel Booman, who manages this particular project and authored the published methodology.

    3) Can you clarify whether the credits purchased by Microsoft in 2020 were from those issued under the V1.0 Methodology for GHG and Co-benefits in Grazing Systems? If not, what methodology was utilized by Regen for these?
    Yes, these credits utilized V1.0 Methodology for GHG and Co-benefits in Grazing Systems.

    4) Will a new credit class be developed to house the In-Stand Surface Application of Biochar in Forestlands methodology? Yes. It is nearing completion currently.

    Can you provide information on the expected issuance pipeline for this methodology? The first issuance is 300 biochar credits, which have been presold. This particular project is looking (ideally) for partners in the Pacific Northwest, but open to discussing purchases from other outlets, like Klima.

    It looks like a link is missing to check the issuance pipeline in your RFC under the section What credit standards &/or methodologies are under development on Regen Registry.

    There is not currently a public link to methodologies under development, but there will be soon. They can be best summarized by viewing the credit look book, available on the webpage:

    13 days later

    Hi everyone, sorry for the delay. We have two potential solutions with the actual integration so I won’t touch too much on the actual integration with CarbonMark as that is yet to be solidified.

    Feature Coverage:

    ecoToken's solution ensures complete feature coverage of carbon credits on the Regen registry when a user decides to purchase or retire them on CarbonMark. This is achieved with custom development work to deploy secure and scalable smart contracts that leverage features of the blockchains involved.

    Draft of technical components involved:

    Smart Contracts and Proof of Reserves:
    • ecoToken will develop smart contracts to handle the escrow, retirement, and redemption of eco credits.
    • Utilize an Onchain proof of reserves mechanism to enhance transparency and trust in the bridging process.

    Bridged Credits and ERC-20 fungible tokens:
    • Bridging Regen carbon credits to the Polygon blockchain when they are purchased by a user on CarbonMark.
    • Creating ERC-20 fungible tokens on Polygon and escrowing them in a "retirable" state on Regen which can be retired or redeemed at a later date.

    Redemption and Withdrawal on Regen:
    Facilitating the withdrawal process through smart contracts to unlock previously escrowed credits on Regen.

    Technical Benefits:

    Interoperability:
    ecoToken establishes a seamless technical bridge between Regen and CarbonMark, enabling ecocredit fungibility across platforms.
    Transparency: The proof of reserves mechanism guarantees that ecocredits are always backed by the credits on their native chain, enhancing transparency.

    Security: Smart contracts ensure the secure and automated handling of ecocredits, reducing the risk of fraud or mismanagement.

    Swift Transactions and User Experience: Through close collaboration with CarbonMark's developers, EcoToken ensures rapid transaction processing, providing users with the best possible experience.

    a month later

    Hi there, is there any estimated deadline to approve this? I am new to KlimaDAO, is there a standard process for RFCs? Thanks!

      20 days later

      antoniusaurelius Hey ser, this initiative has already passed our snapshot vote. When feedback is largely positive usually there is a week or two discussion here at the RFC stage. This feedback is then used to craft a more refined formal Klima Improvement Proposal (KIP). You can view the KIP section of the forum here: https://forum.klimadao.finance/t/proposals

      After KIPs pass a forum vote, they move to snapshot, where holders of the KLIMA token can cast their official votes to make changes to the protocol or allocate capital in some specified way.

      a year later

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