In December 2024, Gold Standard published an updated fee schedule to manage the evolution of carbon markets whilst maintaining focus on mission alignment in supporting high-impact projects in countries where finance is slower to reach.
The fee schedule includes a per-credit fee for transfers, retirements and cancellations as well as a fee for labelling Article 6 and CORSIA credits. These fees have been applied to reflect and support the increase in administration and infrastructure costs.
This communication provides more information on how and when these fees will be applied to help project developers prepare ahead of the planned invoicing date of October 2025. After this date, invoices will be generated and sent to the Impact Registry Account Holder on a quarterly basis.
APPLICABILITY OF FEES
Transfer fees – Will be applied when carbon credits are transferred from one account holder to another, when the account holders are not connected by the same master account.
Exemptions include:
- Credit transfers between a master account and its associated sub-accounts
- Credit transfers to Gold Standard operated accounts, for example Share of Proceed (SoP) delivery subaccount, the marketplace, or any other account utilised by Gold Standard for operational purposes.
- Exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis if there are valid operational reasons for no payment, for example, merging multiple master accounts. A formal letter would be required to provide context for the request and reason for exemption. This letter can be submitted to help@goldstandard.org.
Retirement fee: – Will be applied on all credits that are retired, with no exceptions.
Cancellation fee – If credits are cancelled, as opposed to retired, a fee for the cancellation will be applied. This fee is applicable to all cancellation requests, except for the exemptions below:
- Credits cancelled due to decisions coming out of the certification process, for example Land-use and Forestry (LUF) shortfalls.
- Credits transferred to a host country registry (though a transfer fee will be applicable in the case of any return of such credits to the Gold Standard Impact Registry).
DELIVERY OF INVOICES
Invoices for transfer, retirements and cancellations will be generated and sent to the registered billing contact for the Impact Registry account in October 2025. These invoices will include fees for any transfer, retirement and cancellation made between 01 Jan 2025 – 30 Sep 2025. If you would prefer to be billed quarterly starting from Q2 2025, please email help@goldstandard.org for more information.
From 2026, invoices will be generated and sent to the Impact Registry Account Holder on a quarterly basis with plans to move to real-time invoicing in the future.
PREPARING AND TRACKING TRANSACTION STATUSES
To help prepare and manage the inbound invoices due to be issued for payment in January 2026, we strongly encourage all Registry Account Holders to use the Impact Registry to track the status of transactions.
The ‘My Credits’ page will enable account holders to export and assess total retirements.
To help prepare and manage the inbound invoices due to be issued for payment in January 2026, we strongly encourage all Registry Account Holders to use the Impact Registry to track the status of transactions.
The ‘My Credits’ page will enable account holders to export and assess total retirements.
The ‘Transfers’ page and export function will help in the assessment of credit transfers.
OTHER LABELS AND IMPACT CERTIFICATION
From 01 Jan 2025, all credits labelled as authorised under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement are subject to an Article 6 label fee. This includes credits labelled as eligible for use under Phase 1 of CORSIA.
This per credit fee supports the additional administration, processes and infrastructure required to label the credits and support host governments in their management and reporting of Article 6 cooperation. The fee will be applied either at issuance or, in the case of already-issued credits, prior to labelling.
PAYMENT TERMS AND CONDITIONS
As per section 19 of the Registry App Terms of Use, invoices will be subject to a 30-day payment term and any account on the Impact Registry in arrears of sixty (60) calendar days may be subject to a temporary account suspension until payment is made.
FURTHER SUPPORT
If you have any further questions, comments or require additional clarification or assistance, please reach out to help@goldstandard.org for support.