What Credible Carbon does

Credible Carbon is South Africa's first voluntary carbon registry, founded in 2004 as the Promoting Access to Carbon Equity (PACE) Centre and formally established as a registry in 2008. Headquartered in Hout Bay, Cape Town, the company operates a transparent digital registry platform that registers African climate projects, issues verified carbon credits, and publicly tracks every issuance and retirement to provide end-to-end traceability. Its mission is narrowly focused on enabling poverty-alleviating, small-scale African projects to access carbon market revenue that is otherwise foreclosed by the high upfront transaction costs and complexity of global standards such as CDM and Gold Standard.

The company serves two primary customer segments. On the supply side, it serves African project developers (recycling, organics composting, regenerative agriculture) seeking to monetize emissions reductions under a low-cost, locally-attuned proprietary standard — the Credible Carbon Standard, branded as AMPED (Additional, Measurable, Permanent, Excellent Data) — with a minimum scale threshold of 1,000 tCO2/year and annual third-party audit. On the demand side, it serves corporate and individual offset buyers (named logos include Nedbank, Aurecon, and Table Mountain Cableway) who want traceable, audited African credits. The portfolio comprises Walker's Recycling (first issuance 2014), Stellenbosch Community Recycling, Zero to Landfill Organics Composting, Connacher Textile Recycling, and Spier Mob Grazing; the long-running 14-year Kuyasa CDM project was wound down in 2025. The core platform combines the Credible Carbon Registry (project registration, credit issuance, public dashboard), a Carbon Calculator for footprint estimation, and a credit purchase flow accepting credit card, EFT, and PayPal in ZAR, USD, EUR, and GBP.

Revenue is generated via two streams: a transaction fee on credit sales (the company retains roughly 18% to cover audit, legal, and registry services, with the remaining 82% flowing directly to project developers) and recurring project registration and periodic verification fees. Distribution is primarily direct via the website, supplemented by an authorised broker partnership with Curbon (May 2023) for enterprise resale. Cumulative impact disclosed: 1,461,848.36 tCO2 offset to date, ZAR 43.5 million transferred to projects, and 255,940.02 tCO2 currently available for purchase. The company operates with a 1–10 person team and has no disclosed institutional funding or parent company.

Name

Credible Carbon

Legal name

Credible Carbon

Website

https://crediblecarbon.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Credible Carbon operates South Africa's first voluntary carbon registry, issuing and tracking audited carbon credits from African poverty-alleviating projects via a public registry platform. It serves corporate and individual offset buyers and small-scale African project developers excluded from global carbon markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Voluntary Carbon Credit Registry

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

akta.pro primary industry

Carbon Registries & Issuance Platforms (Project/credit lifecycle, serials, issuance, retirement) (EUABAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Voluntary Carbon Credit Verification & Validation (VCS/Gold Standard/ACR/CAR) (EUABACAA), Credit Issuance, Serialisation & Retirement Assurance (Registry Integrity Checks) (EUABACAM), Methodology Development & Standard-Setting Support (Protocols, Tools, Updates) (EUABACAN)

Keywords

• Voluntary carbon registry
• Carbon credit marketplace
• Carbon offsetting platform
• Climate project verification
• African carbon credits

Headquarters

HQ city

Richards Bay

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Carbon Credit Sales Commission: Credible Carbon operates a registry and marketplace where carbon credits from registered projects are sold. The company retains a portion (18% based on the 82% revenue-to-projects figure) as fees for audit, legal, and registry services, while the majority of revenue flows directly to project developers.
2. Project Registration Fees: Projects must pay registration fees and accept the Credible Carbon Registry Rules to be listed on the registry. Projects must also pay for periodic audits and verification.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Credible Carbon operates a transparent voluntary carbon credit registry focused on African climate projects, connecting project developers that supply verified emission reductions with corporate and individual buyers of carbon credits. The platform issues credits under the proprietary Credible Carbon Standard, lists African mitigation projects, and processes transactions between sellers (project developers) and buyers (companies and individuals seeking to offset emissions).

Product overview

Credible Carbon operates as a South African voluntary carbon registry and marketplace (established 2008), offering a unified platform for carbon credit transactions. The core offering consists of the Credible Carbon Registry for project registration and credit tracking, paired with a Carbon Calculator for footprint estimation, and the Credible Carbon Credits product for purchasing verified offsets. The platform also supports a Project Registration Service for developers seeking to list new projects. The portfolio includes multiple registered offset projects spanning waste recycling (Walker's Recycling, Stellenbosch Community Recycling), organics composting (Zero to Landfill), textile recycling (Connacher), and regenerative agriculture (Spier Mob Grazing), all verified under the Credible Carbon Standard.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Credible Carbon Verified Carbon Credits
• Project Registration Service

Quantifiable outcome

• 82% of revenue flows directly to projects after audit, legal, and registry fees
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CurboncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 24 May 2023Curbon secured a supply and distribution agreement making them an authorised broker of Credible Carbon credits. This enables Curbon to resell and retire carbon credits issued by Credible Carbon, extending Credible Carbon's distribution reach through Curbon's platform which offers carbon-offsetting options for online shopping.
• Intercape Love Out Loud InitiativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through Walker's Recycling where local youth sort and sell recyclables from bus routes, using proceeds to provide meals for vulnerable families. This is a social impact partnership connected to a registered project.
• SouthSouthNorthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormer strategic partner in the Kuyasa Clean Development Mechanism project. SouthSouthNorth developed the original Kuyasa project concept and later partnered with Credible Carbon when they began to pull back from CDM and Gold Standard costs. This partnership has concluded as of 2025.
• City of Cape TownminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormer partner in the Kuyasa project, supporting the retrofitting of houses in Khayelitsha. The City of Cape Town supported implementation and later partnered with Credible Carbon for the project.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Puro.earth: Puro.earth operates a carbon removal registry focused on biochar, geological, and other removal methodologies. It is a direct peer as another specialist voluntary carbon registry with proprietary methodology standards and end-to-end traceability, comparable to Credible Carbon's registry-plus-standard model but focused on removals rather than avoidance.

Emerging players

• Pachama: Pachama is a technology-enabled carbon credit marketplace using satellite and ML-based monitoring to verify nature-based projects. Comparable as an emerging voluntary carbon marketplace with technology differentiation, though focused on forestry/reforestation rather than Credible Carbon's community project mix.
• Sylvera: Sylvera provides independent carbon credit ratings and quality assessments to help buyers evaluate credit integrity. It is an emerging player with partial overlap in the voluntary carbon market infrastructure layer, focused on due diligence rather than registry issuance.
• BeZero: BeZero is a carbon credit ratings agency offering independent quality scores on voluntary market credits. Comparable as an adjacent infrastructure provider influencing buyer trust in voluntary credits issued by registries like Credible Carbon.
• Curbon: Curbon is a carbon credit marketplace and broker that has a direct supply and distribution agreement with Credible Carbon, reselling and retiring credits through its e-commerce platform. It is an emerging distribution peer that extends Credible Carbon's buyer reach and competes with other broker platforms in the same vertical.

Broad incumbents

• Verra: Verra operates the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), the world's largest voluntary carbon registry. It is a broad incumbent offering overlapping registry, methodology, and verification infrastructure that Credible Carbon competes with for project registrations, though Verra targets all scales and geographies rather than Credible Carbon's African small-project niche.
• American Carbon Registry (ACR): ACR is one of the oldest voluntary carbon registries, issuing credits under its own standards for forestry, agriculture, and methane reduction. Comparable as a registry operator with proprietary methodology standards and third-party verification oversight.
• Climate Action Reserve: Climate Action Reserve is a North American voluntary carbon registry developing protocols and issuing credits across forestry, livestock, and other avoidance/removal categories. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping registry, methodology development, and verification services, though focused primarily on US projects.
• South Pole Group: South Pole is a major carbon advisory and project development firm that also registers and retires credits across multiple registries. Comparable as a project developer and credit originator competing for the same African and emerging market project pipeline as Credible Carbon.
• Gold Standard: Gold Standard is a leading voluntary carbon registry focused on sustainable development outcomes alongside emissions reductions. It directly competes with Credible Carbon for high-integrity project registrations and methodologies, particularly those emphasizing co-benefits in developing economies.

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Credible Carbon