Developer Vetting Checklist
A practical checklist for buyers, investors and journalists assessing a Kenyan or East African carbon project developer. Work through it in order; stop at any failed knockout.
Last updated: November 2026. Figures and regulatory details reflect publicly reported information as of that date; verify current rules with the relevant registry or regulator before transacting.
Knockout checks
- Registry listing: current, verifiable issuance on Verra (VCS), Gold Standard or Plan Vivo — check the public registry database yourself.
- Registry history: any past suspensions? (Example: Verra suspended and reinstated the Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project in June 2026.) If yes, read the review outcome.
- Kenyan approval: compliance with Kenya's carbon-market rule book (August 2026), including any export-cap implications for international sales.
Quality checks
- Methodology: measured and audited (e.g. Gold Standard's metered and measured methodology for electric cooking) rather than estimated.
- Benefit sharing: a written, community-visible agreement — Mikoko Pamoja's public governance is the small-project benchmark.
- Tenure: years of issuance, not promises — Wildlife Works has issued since 2011; Vi Agroforestry's work spans decades.
- MRV transparency: can you see monitoring reports? Boomitra's satellite/AI measurement and co2balance's traceable credits show what transparency looks like.
- Counterparty record: search for credible journalism and community complaints; check who the buyers and intermediaries are (portfolio managers such as Climate Impact Partners, marketplaces such as Hummingbirds).
Red flags
- Credits offered off-registry, or retirement "in process" for months.
- Benefit-sharing terms the community cannot produce on request.
- Volume promises that exceed the project's entire issuance history.
- Refusal to name the registry, standard and vintage in writing.
Use it
Reproduce this checklist freely with attribution. For how we apply it to our own rankings, see methodology.