Gold Standard updates four clean cooking and thermal energy methodologies, enabling transition to Paris Agreement-aligned carbon markets

This is a Press Release by Gold Standard, shared by illuminem, to update the global sustainability community with the latest relevant updates.

Gold Standard has published a suite of updated clean cooking and thermal energy methodologies, alongside a digital stove monitoring tool. The updates establish consistent, Paris Agreement-aligned accounting principles from micro-scale to fully metered, data-driven systems, while preserving practical access to carbon finance in low-income and remote settings. With these updates, more than a third (34%) of Gold Standard’s current project portfolio has access to methodologies aligned with the Paris Agreement. 

Following the launch of 10 methodologies and tools for public consultation in April, these revised methodologies, which will be applied to all 2026 credit vintages onwards, mark a major step in Gold Standard’s Paris Agreement Alignment. The updates enable projects to scale efficiently through standardised safeguards and new digital monitoring options, strengthening environmental integrity and maximising market viability. 

The methodologies incorporate feedback received at the public consultation stage, and are designed to remain practical across diverse, real-world contexts, enabling projects in low-income and remote settings to access carbon finance without compromising integrity.

Together they represent a modernisation of carbon accounting across the full spectrum of cooking interventions – from micro-scale projects using simplified approaches to advanced, fully metered technologies – establishing a unified market framework that will improve confidence for developers, investors and buyers. 

Reduced Emissions from Cooking and Heating (RECH) V5.0 (formerly TPDDTEC)