PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE CDR REGISTRIES

Governments and crediting-programme owners can establish or require publicly accessible registries of CDR projects and credits. Each credit receives a unique identifier, with records of issuance, holdings, transfers and final use or cancellation. This replaces fragmented or private information with a common record that buyers, regulators and the public can check. Buyers can check recorded issuance, holdings and retirement, while operators can block further transfers after a recorded unit has been used. CDR transactions and claims therefore become more traceable. The registry implements certification decisions without independently establishing removal quality; whether its entries establish legal ownership depends on applicable law.

The programme owner must establish which record is authoritative and who authorises account access and changes. Retirement takes a unit out of circulation for a specified use; cancellation may remove it for other reasons, which should remain visible. Each unit needs links to its project, method, removal period, storage duration and certification evidence. Disclosure must support scrutiny while protecting justified confidentiality. Checks between registries are needed to detect the same project being credited elsewhere, since unique serial numbers within one system are insufficient. Records must also remain accessible if the operator changes or fails.

Public records let purchasers check a unit's recorded status and others examine whether a company's stated retirement occurred. Project documents and status histories make misleading claims and undisclosed changes easier to identify. Suppliers gain a standard source of transaction evidence; regulators can reconcile issuance and use; and authorised lenders can verify relevant holdings. Shared identifiers and data formats reduce manual reconciliation between programmes. These benefits depend on complete, current records connected to supporting evidence, making disclosure rules as important as the software.

Incorrect entries or unauthorised transfers can cause buyers to pay for units the seller cannot deliver. A transferable unit may also be promised or pledged elsewhere, so buyers must check rights and commitments beyond the public record. Users may mistake registration for proof of quality, while undisclosed information prevents scrutiny and excessive disclosure exposes sensitive data. Linking systems without preserving unit differences may imply that temporary and permanent storage are interchangeable. Operator failure can also strand records. Correction procedures, security checks and arrangements to preserve or transfer records are therefore necessary alongside public access.

Evaluation should test whether users can trace units from certification to their current status and recorded use. Missing fields, duplicate records, disputed transfers, publication delays and unresolved differences between systems reveal weaknesses. Outages and recovery tests assess reliability. Public users need a way to report errors and see their resolution, informing improvements to disclosure and account controls.

Certification-scheme owners and verifiers should specify evidence for issuance and status changes. Developers, buyers and intermediaries should test transactions, while regulators check compatibility with their reporting systems. Civil-society users should test public scrutiny, supported by cybersecurity and privacy expertise. Landowners and communities can identify information needed for accountability and disclosure that would expose them unnecessarily.

International mechanisms, public authorities and private programme owners can establish or require registries for schemes they govern. Regional and municipal programmes may use shared services instead of building separate systems. Companies, industry standard-setters and philanthropic organisations can operate or commission public registries where they govern a crediting programme. Providing funding or publishing a list of purchases is insufficient on its own. The programme owner must assign authority over records and remain accountable for their operation.