GCC: The First Carbon Credit Program of the Global South

The Global Carbon Council (GCC) is the first international carbon credit and sustainable development program, based in the Global South. It was established (as Global Carbon Trust) by the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD) in 2016.

The GCC Program contributes to a more sustainable and low-carbon future, by registering high-quality projects from around the world that have demonstrated their additionality in the reduction or removal of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while ensuring that project construction and operations do not cause any net-harm to the environment and society.

GCC issues tradable credits to registered projects based on their verified result-based achievements in GHG emission reduction/removal. Therefore, the Program directs much-needed climate finance to projects which mitigate climate change and contribute towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By doing so, GCC contributes to achieving Paris Agreement’s objectives.

Credits certified by GCC can be used by governments and companies to meet and enhance their climate ambitions. In particular, the GCC Program can support governments in their efforts to meet Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and trade Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs).

It is globally agreed that reducing greenhouse gas emissions should be the first choice for any climate action. However, it is expected that it will be investment-intensive, and some hard-to-abate GHG emissions will remain, irrespective of the effort expended.

Therefore, offsetting may complement efforts to reduce GHG emissions. Offsetting allows for the optimization of emission reduction costs by retiring carbon credits certified by internationally recognized certifiers, including the Global Carbon Council.

wheat field

How the Program Works

The GCC Program is broadly open to receiving GHG emission-reduction/removal projects from across the world, with a particular focus on projects promoting low-carbon development in developing countries.

GCC registers high-quality projects that have demonstrated their additionality and will achieve reduction/removal of GHG emissions, while ensuring that project construction and operations do not cause any net-harm to the environment and society and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As a carbon credit program based in the Global South, GCC possesses profound insights into the unique political and economic challenges that this region encounters in the realm of climate action at the project level. We understand the on-the-ground realities in the developing world, and it’s this expertise that enables GCC to conduct exceptionally well-informed analyses concerning the demonstration of additionality by projects in the Global South.

The GCC project portfolio spans a diverse spectrum of sectors, including (but not limited to):

  • Renewable Energy
    (such as wind and hydroelectric projects)
  • Methane Avoidance
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Waste Management
  • Transport
  • Nature-Based Solutions

For further details of the GCC scopes and GHG sectoral scopes, refer to sections 4 and 5 of the Program Framework.

  • Program Framework

    The GCC Program Framework regulates matters related to the governance structure (Advisory Board, Regulatory Committee, Steering Committee and GCC Verifiers), Project Owners and Project Supporters, GCC Appointed Experts and GCC Operations Team. It also regulates the documentation framework of the entire GCC Program.

    read more …

  • Program Manual

    The GCC Program Manual is the overarching program document. It provides links to various GCC documents containing the rules and requirements that govern the GCC Program.

    The Program Manual describes key elements of the program, such as the GCC framework, project and methodology related processes, carbon registry system, approval requirements for GCC Verifiers, and provides general requirements to other standards such as the Project Sustainability Standard and the Environmental and Social Safeguards Standards.

    read more …

  • Project Standard

    The purpose of the GCC Project Standard is to:

    • (a) Guide project owners to ensure that documentation prepared by them and submitted to the GCC Program throughout the project cycle window is of high quality; and
    • (b) Provide specific requirements and eligibility criteria applicable to GCC Projects that reduce/remove GHG emissions and voluntarily contribute to achieving UN SDGs, ensure that the projects do-no-net harm to Environment (E+) and Society (S+) and aim to obtain Host Country Attestations on the Avoidance of Double Counting as a part for their eligibility for CORSIA purposes (C+), to enhance carbon credits (Approved Carbon Credits – ACCs) issued under the GCC Program with additional labels SDG+, E+/S+ and C+, respectively.

    read more …

  • Program Processes

    The GCC Program Processes document describes process-related requirements for project and methodology development processes:

    • Project Process:
      • Requirements applicable to submitting registration and issuance requests for GCC Projects;
      • Requirements applicable to the GCC Operations Team and the GCC Steering Committee in consideration and upon subsequent approval or rejection of requests for registration and/or issuance of ACCs for GCC Projects.
    • Methodology Development Process:
      • Requirements applicable to Project Owners, the GCC Operations Team and the GCC Regulatory Committee in consideration of new baseline and monitoring methodologies.
      • Procedure for the consideration of top-down and bottom-up revisions to approved baseline and monitoring methodologies.

    read more …

About GCC