Vida CarbonGuide

Education only. We sell no credits and give no investment advice.

The guides

Seven guides, written for people who are not carbon traders. Read them in order if you are starting from zero, or jump to the one that answers today's question.

  1. How carbon markets work, compliance and voluntary

    A plain explanation of carbon markets: how government cap-and-trade systems differ from the voluntary credit market, who buys what, and why prices vary so much.

    5 min

  2. What a carbon credit is and how it gets retired

    What one carbon credit represents, how a project earns credits from design to issuance, what retirement means and how to check a retirement on a public registry.

    4 min

  3. How to judge carbon credit quality

    How to tell a stronger carbon credit from a weak one: the ICVCM Core Carbon Principles, what registries do, additionality, permanence, over-crediting and ratings.

    4 min

  4. Cookstove, rice and forest projects explained

    How cookstove, rice methane and forest carbon projects earn credits: what each measures, where over-crediting creeps in and what to ask.

    5 min

  5. Carbon credit investment scams and how to spot them

    How carbon credit investment scams work, the warning signs the FCA, CFTC and SEC describe, and what to do if you have been approached or have paid.

    4 min

  6. A small business's first emissions inventory

    A first greenhouse gas inventory for a small business: scopes 1, 2 and 3 explained, the data to collect, emission factors and a worked example.

    4 min

  7. The UN Sustainable Development Goals and carbon projects

    What the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals are, how carbon projects claim SDG benefits, which standards check those claims and how to read SDG icons on an offset.

    4 min