To guarantee a transparent management of carbon credits, their traceability and authenticity, i.e. to be certain that they are only sold once, the agents of carbon markets must maintain a registry.
The registry is particularly meant for project holders (issuers of credits), for compensation agencies (intermediaries), for companies and communities (purchasers).
It allows them to issue, manage and withdraw carbon credits on their own account or for their clients.
The registry is public most of the time but it can happen that an organization that generates its own credits can have its own internal registry.
Today, only the carbon credits issued for the project in Cambodia (standard VCS - Voluntary Carbon Standard) are managed by a public registry: Registry VCS de la Caisse de Dépôts et Consignations Climat.
This registry is an essential link to the quality certificate introduced by VCSA (VCS Association) to the carbon compensation market. With 29 % of the market share, VCS constitutes the most widely used standard in the world. It guarantees the quality of the funded projects, the reality of the reductions in emissions and, because of its system of registries, the traceability of carbon credits.
