ThanksLetter #7. Trust, Now Rated: New Standards in Carbon Markets
Equal Tons No More: Carbon Credit Grading Takes the Stage
2025-10-01
Welcome to our ThanksLetter!
Carbon markets are experiencing their biggest shakeup since inception, and it’s not about price—it’s about quality. We’re moving beyond the simplistic view that “all tons are created equal” toward quality differentiation and grading systems as the new market standard. This year has seen carbon markets mature from hype-driven to due-diligence-focused approaches. Global investors and corporations no longer settle for superficial carbon neutrality declarations but demand substantial, verifiable results.
A symbolic case of this transformation involves an agricultural technology company whose rice methane reduction project earned an A rating from BeZero Carbon, placing it among the top 10% of credits ever rated and making it the world’s highest-rated rice methane project. This quality recognition trend in agricultural carbon projects reflects the direction ThanksCarbon has been pursuing. We’re preparing to seek independent quality assessments to validate our credits’ integrity and market value.
Current carbon markets contain diverse credit types, making quality assessment challenging. Existing verification processes provide only pass/fail binary judgments without clearly distinguishing quality differences. Core Carbon Principles (CCP) remain methodology-level standards, failing to reflect how project implementation approaches can significantly vary quality even with identical methodologies.
This is where independent rating agencies like BeZero and Sylvera play crucial roles. Their grading systems provide developers with concrete roadmaps for project quality improvement while serving as independent communication tools for market quality differentiation.
Last June, Gold Standard CEO Margaret Kim emphasized that integrity definitions are expanding—accurate carbon accounting alone no longer suffices at the Gold Standard Conference in Paris. True integrity must encompass Real Results, Community-Centered Design, and Permanence.
The conference repeatedly emphasized the importance of digital MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification). Investors and project developers are anxious about transparently tracking progress. This led to consensus on the critical need for thorough monitoring and reliable verification systems. The conference highlighted three key principles: facing supply chains as they are, focusing on the most critical points, and adopting long-term perspectives that recognize nature doesn’t operate on quarterly results.
Within these global trends, ThanksCarbon is already advancing in market-driven directions. We continue investing in digital MRV technology development to resolve carbon credit mistrust and pursuing independent assessments to create high-quality credits despite costs. Our Haimdall MRV platform, combining satellite imagery, AI-based modeling, and field verification, determines paddy water management compliance with 99% accuracy, perfectly implementing the ‘transparency’ and ‘digital MRV’ elements markets demand.
Rather than simply calculating carbon, we implement genuine climate action by providing meaningful support to farming communities, enhancing transparency through scientific verification systems, and enabling sustainable agricultural transitions.
📌 Related Articles
- World Bank : State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2025
- Gold Standard Conference: Validating New Standards
Quick Summary
- International Research Collaboration: Selected for Korea-Germany 2+2 industry-academia joint research project, achieving international recognition for ThanksCarbon’s AI-based technology capabilities
- Cambodia Project Progress: Full advancement of Cambodia’s AWD carbon project
- Corporate Partnership Expansion: Demonstrating practical applications of sustainable agricultural products
Korea-Germany Joint Research Selection: International Recognition of ThanksCarbon’s AI Technology
Building on our AI-driven biodiversity monitoring technology and extensive corporate collaboration experience, ThanksCarbon will participate in the Korea Research Foundation’s Korea-Germany 2+2 industry-academia joint research project: “Development of Real-time Biodiversity Monitoring Practical Technology through AI-based Audio-Spatial Information Integration (BiodivAID)” alongside Korea Environment Institute (KEI), Kookmin University, and German research institutions and company.
This three-year project aims to overcome limitations of existing field survey-centered biodiversity monitoring and establish innovative assessment systems utilizing AI technology.
The research comprises three core areas:
First, developing real-time ecological monitoring technology using AI-based bioacoustic analysis. This involves large-scale collection of acoustic data from various species including birds and amphibians, establishing automatic identification and classification systems through deep learning models.
Second, developing comprehensive ecological monitoring and biodiversity assessment technology through audio-spatial data fusion. This aims to shift biodiversity assessment paradigms from individual species-centered to ecological function-centered approaches.
Third, developing practical technology and platforms for industrial application of biodiversity monitoring. This includes developing biodiversity indicators meeting global disclosure standards and implementing data pipelines and reporting systems readily accessible to corporations.
ThanksCarbon leads research outcome commercialization, implementing biodiversity risk assessment platforms responding to global disclosure standards. We will build pipelines automatically linking related data in standardized formats and develop ‘Terre‘ into a global open-source platform easily utilized by corporations for sustainability reporting. Terre is ThanksCarbon’s biodiversity monitoring platform—an integrated solution providing real-time monitoring of biodiversity status near business sites and supporting corporate sustainability strategy development.
This international joint research validates ThanksCarbon’s technological capabilities globally, demonstrating our ability to perform high-quality credit generation and precise monitoring through proprietary technologies. The combination of German AI technology with Korean field application experience is expected to develop practical biodiversity assessment solutions applicable in global markets, providing clear evidence that partnering with ThanksCarbon enables high-quality credits and accurate monitoring.
Cambodia AWD Project: Building Collaboration Framework Across Four Provinces
Our Cambodia operations continue progressing smoothly. Following Korea-Cambodia ITMO selection covered in previous newsletters, field activities are actively advancing to position ThanksCarbon as the next success story, building on KOTRA’s international carbon reduction project foundation.
In August, ThanksCarbon conducted extensive field meetings involving Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (PDAFF) and CPDD (Coalition for Partnership in Democratic Development). In Pursat, Takeo, and Kampong Speu provinces, we held Programme of Activities (POA) consultations with provincial officials and Voluntary Programme Activity (VPA) discussions with farmers.
In Kandal province, we established formal partnerships with local authorities through cooperation agreements. These field meetings represent more than administrative formalities—they create substantial collaboration platforms where climate ambitions meet local realities, involving farmers, authorities, and communities in participatory decision-making processes.
📌 Related Articles
- Kampong Speu Province Targets Five Communes for Innovative Agricultural Project
- ThanksCarbon CEO Haewon Kim LinkedIn post
Corporate Social Responsibility in Action: Expanding Low-Carbon Rice CoolMe Applications
Following last year’s success, CoolMe Rice continued gaining recognition at carbon neutrality events throughout the year. In June’s Uiwang City carbon neutrality campaign, we provided ThanksCarbon’s low-carbon rice ‘CoolMe’ through collaboration between Uiwang City, Uiwang City Association, and Hyundai Rotem.
This demonstrates practical examples of how corporations can integrate low-carbon agriculture into corporate social responsibility activities and employee programs. Companies can utilize low-carbon rice in employee cafeterias or social contribution activities, supporting farmers protecting climate adaptation and food security. ThanksCarbon welcomes collaboration with organizations supporting agricultural communities through practical sustainability initiatives providing measurable climate benefits.
This month’s activities demonstrate ThanksCarbon’s continued growth across international recognition, project execution, and corporate partnership development. From research collaboration validation to field-level implementation and practical sustainability applications, we remain committed to providing impactful climate solutions benefiting all stakeholders.
ThanksCarbon continues bridging climate ambitions with practical implementation, building partnerships that create lasting value for investors, communities, and the environment.
Stay Connected
Interested in partnering with ThanksCarbon to drive climate solutions? Explore collaboration opportunities here →
Stay connected through our website or social channels to receive more updates and collaboration news. See you in our next edition!
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