Carbon Ratings built to tell a real tonne from a paper one.
SYNE rates carbon credit projects, issuers, and carbon-intensity performance against one independent, geospatially-verified standard - from feasibility and eligibility screening through to delivery and market pricing.
From feasibility to delivery, in one platform.
From project-level geospatial analysis and eligibility assessment to market-wide pricing and independent ratings, SYNE Ratings gives every market participant the intelligence to transact, invest, and build with confidence.
Independent Ratings
AAA–D ratings for carbon credit projects and issuers, built on additionality, permanence, MRV and co-benefit criteria.
Risk Management
Reversal, delivery and counterparty risk scoring for carbon-backed instruments and portfolios.
Geospatial & Eligibility Analysis
Satellite and remote-sensing screening to assess project eligibility and baseline integrity before financing.
Biomass Atlas Integration
Direct integration with SYNE's Biomass Atlas for independent forest carbon stock and land-cover verification.
Carbon Intensity Ratings
Facility- and product-level ratings based on emissions intensity per unit of output, for industrial and corporate buyers.
Market-Wide Pricing Intelligence
Independent carbon price benchmarks across voluntary and compliance markets, segmented by vintage, methodology and registry.
If any of these describe you, a rating is worth more than a validation report.
Carbon Ratings extend independent, geospatially-verified scrutiny to every participant in the carbon value chain - from project origination to compliance-grade instruments.
Bankable project ratings
Geospatial eligibility and additionality assessment that strengthens financing conversations before credits are ever issued.
Portfolio-wide credibility
Consistent, independent ratings across every project in an issuer's or aggregator's credit portfolio.
Rated net-zero claims
Rated offset portfolios that hold up to scrutiny when a net-zero or carbon-neutral claim gets challenged.
Carbon intensity ratings
Facility- and product-line ratings based on emissions intensity per unit of output, benchmarked against sector peers.
Fund-level reporting
Carbon project investments rated to meet fund-level reporting commitments to LPs and co-investors.
Compliance-grade rating
Independent rating for instruments used under Article 6 cooperation, CORSIA, or national compliance schemes.
80 weighted criteria. Four dimensions. One score.
Every Carbon Rating is built from 80 individually weighted criteria spread across Additionality & Baseline, Permanence & Reversal Risk, MRV & Data Integrity, and Co-benefits & Safeguards - each aligned to recognised carbon-market standards and project-type materiality. SYNE calculates a weighted average across all 80: no single indicator can make or break a rating, but heavily-weighted dimensions like MRV move the overall score faster than isolated gaps elsewhere.
Additionality & Baseline
Is the emissions reduction or removal real, and beyond what would have happened anyway.
- Baseline Scenario Construction
- Regulatory & Financial Additionality Test
- Leakage Risk Assessment
- Crediting Period & Baseline Renewal
- Double-Counting & Registry Cross-Checks
- Methodology Conservativeness
Permanence & Reversal Risk
How durable the emissions reduction or removal is, and what could reverse it.
- Reversal Risk Assessment
- Buffer Pool Contribution Adequacy
- Monitoring Period Length
- Natural Disturbance Exposure
- Legal Title & Land Tenure Security
- Long-Term Financing Plan
MRV & Data Integrity
Measurement, reporting and verification quality - including satellite and field data.
- Satellite & Remote Sensing Verification (Biomass Atlas)
- Field Measurement Protocol Quality
- Third-Party Validation & Verification (VVB)
- Emissions Factor Sourcing
- Data Transparency & Traceability
- Independent Geospatial Eligibility Screening
Co-benefits & Safeguards
Biodiversity, community and social impact beyond the carbon claim itself.
- Biodiversity & Ecosystem Co-benefits
- Community Consent & Benefit-Sharing
- Environmental & Social Safeguards
- SDG Alignment
Six tiers, from exemplary to distressed.
The SYNE Carbon Rating scale runs from AAA to D - the same scale used across every SYNE rating. Each tier corresponds to a composite score range and a SYNE Index quadrant. Critically, no project can reach the top of the scale without also demonstrating rigorous, independently verified MRV data - a strong additionality claim without verified data cannot be rated AAA or AA.
Front Runner · Highest confidence in additionality, permanence and MRV, verified geospatially and in the field.
Front Runner or Rising Star · Strong across most criteria, with only minor gaps in monitoring or buffer provisioning.
Rising or Emerging Star · Material gaps in permanence or MRV identified and being actively addressed.
Emerging Star or Back Marker · Significant improvement needed in baseline, permanence or verification.
Back Marker · Fundamental gaps in additionality or measurement integrity.
No material evidence of genuine, verifiable emissions impact.
Project-type relative and absolute
Scores are calibrated against absolute scientific benchmarks and performance relative to comparable project types, so a cookstove programme is judged against what's achievable for its category - not a standard built for engineered removals.
Trajectory matters as much as points
SYNE reports whether a project is improving, stable, or declining relative to its previous rating - trajectory is often more informative than a single-point score across a multi-year crediting period.
Every rating includes a pathway
Projects rated below AA receive a prioritised improvement pathway - actions ranked by expected score impact and feasibility. The pathway is confidential to the rated party by default.
Built for everyone with a stake in the tonne.
A Carbon Rating is a shared reference point - the same score means the same thing whether you're financing a project, buying an offset, or setting policy.
Investors & Carbon Funds
Screen, benchmark and construct portfolios of carbon projects on a comparable, independently verified signal.
Corporates & Net-Zero Buyers
Select credible offsets and carbon-intensity-rated suppliers to support net-zero and carbon-neutral claims.
Carbon Exchanges & Registries
Set listing standards, run rated carbon indices, and offer independent reference ratings to market participants.
Regulators & Compliance Schemes
Benchmark market-wide credit integrity against consistent, published methodology across voluntary and compliance markets.
Insurers & Risk Underwriters
Price delivery and reversal risk on carbon-backed instruments and structured carbon finance products.
Industry Associations
Benchmark sector-wide project quality, set credible standards, and track market integrity over time.
A market can't scale on tonnes nobody can verify.
Independent analyses of the voluntary carbon market have repeatedly found that a large share of issued credits deliver far less genuine emissions impact than claimed - inflated baselines, non-additional projects, and reversed removals. That credibility gap doesn't just undermine climate outcomes: it depresses prices for genuinely high-integrity credits and exposes buyers to reputational and financial risk.
Why project integrity matters
A tonne of carbon that was never actually reduced or removed provides zero climate benefit, no matter how it's marketed. Independent, geospatially-verified assessment is the only way to separate real climate impact from paper credits.
What it means for buyers & investors
Corporates buying offsets and funds investing in carbon projects need a comparable, verifiable signal - not a project developer's own claims - to avoid reputational and stranded-asset risk.
What it means for planetary health
Every non-additional or reversed credit represents a tonne of emissions the atmosphere still carries - undermining the market mechanisms the world is relying on to finance decarbonisation at scale.
What a rating actually tells you
A SYNE Carbon Rating is a weighted judgement of a project's genuine climate impact across four dimensions, discounted for how well the underlying geospatial and MRV data can be trusted.
What separates a Carbon Rating from SYNE.
Four principles run through every rating we publish, from a first-time project developer to a repeat issuer with a multi-country portfolio.
Scientific frameworks
Grounded in the GHG Protocol, IPCC guidance, ICVCM Core Carbon Principles, ISO 14064-2, and leading registry methodologies - not an internal checklist nobody outside SYNE can open.
Data quality, rated
The only carbon ratings organisation that independently scores geospatial and MRV data quality as an explicit rating component.
Regulatory-grade independence
Operating under the EU ESG Ratings Regulation (ESMA 2023/2631) and the FCA Code of Conduct, aligned with the ICVCM Assessment Framework - methodology, conflicts and fees published.
The SYNE Index
Every rating includes a SYNE Index classification across two axes - because a project's methodological rigor and its data credibility are not the same thing.
One score hides the story. Two axes tell it.
Most ratings compress performance and data credibility into a single letter. The SYNE Index keeps them separate - plotting every rated project across scientific alignment and data quality & assurance to reveal which of four quadrants it actually occupies.
- Front Runners AA – AAA
- Strong adherence to global frameworks, rigorous data validation processes, and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
- Rising Stars AA – A
- Use of established scientific methodologies, but potential issues with data accuracy, consistency, or validation.
- Emerging Stars A – B
- Good data management and validation, but limited in the scope of scientific methodologies or frameworks applied.
- Backmarkers B – C
- Basic adherence to regulations, with minimal emphasis on advanced scientific frameworks or robust data validation.
Our methodology is public. A project's rating is the developer's call.
Under the EU ESG Ratings Regulation and the FCA Code of Conduct, SYNE publishes its methodology, conflict-of-interest policy, and fee structure by default. A Carbon Rating itself works differently: there's no regulatory mandate to publish a project's or issuer's rating - that decision sits with the rated party, though many choose to publish to support credit sales and buyer confidence.
Regulatory-grade independence
SYNE Ratings operates under the EU ESG Ratings Regulation (ESMA 2023/2631) and the FCA Code of Conduct, and aligns with the ICVCM Assessment Framework. No commercial relationship between SYNE Ratings and a project developer, issuer, or registry influences the outcome.
Scientific standards referenced
Every rating is grounded in internationally recognised, independently verifiable frameworks - not an internal SYNE checklist.
Methodology, conflict of interest policy, and fee structure are published documents - available on request as part of the SYNE Ratings regulatory disclosure pack, and referenced in every ratings report we issue.
Your Carbon Rating is confidential by default. Many developers commission a rating privately ahead of financing or credit issuance, and choose to publish only when they're ready. Publication always requires explicit consent.
The full carbon market lifecycle, under one methodology.
From independent ratings and third-party verification, to licensed carbon data and intelligence products that inform investment, risk, and procurement decisions across 71 countries.
Independent Ratings
Project- and issuer-level carbon ratings scored against GHG Protocol, IPCC guidance, ICVCM Core Carbon Principles and registry methodologies.
Third-Party Assurance
Independent geospatial and field verification, feeding directly into each rating's MRV and data quality score.
Licensed Carbon Data
Underlying project and pricing datasets licensed to funds, insurers, and corporates for internal modelling.
Intelligence Products
Portfolio- and market-level intelligence informing carbon procurement, investment, and risk decisions.
A Carbon Rating is not a verification report.
A verification report confirms a project followed its chosen methodology. A rating tells you whether that methodology - and the project itself - deserves your confidence.
Independent, not methodology-bound
A Validation/Verification Body (VVB) report checks compliance with a project's chosen registry methodology. SYNE's rating goes further - independently assessing whether that methodology and the underlying data support the claimed climate impact.
8–12 weeks, start to publication
Standard engagements run 8–12 weeks from data submission to final rating. Expedited ratings (5–7 weeks) are available ahead of credit issuance or financing deadlines. Scoping and fees within 5 business days.
No pay-for-rating influence
Project developers and issuers review the draft rating once for factual accuracy only. The final decision rests with SYNE's analysts. Fees and commercial relationships have no bearing on the outcome.
Private or public, by design
Developers can commission a rating privately - ahead of a raise or credit issuance - before choosing to publish. Public ratings require explicit consent and remain published once distributed.
Built for pre-issuance projects
Pre-issuance and early-stage projects get a baseline assessment from available feasibility and geospatial data, with clear notation on what remains to be field-verified.
Recognised across markets
Aligned with the ICVCM Assessment Framework and operating under ESMA and FCA codes of conduct. Used by carbon funds, corporates and registries across our 71 licensed markets.
Rated in 71 countries, across every major carbon market.
Carbon Ratings are constructed to remain legible across voluntary and compliance markets - Verra VCS and Gold Standard-registered projects, Article 6 bilateral cooperation frameworks, CORSIA-eligible jurisdictions, and emerging national carbon markets.
View the full country list →Each mark represents active coverage in one jurisdiction
The rest of the SYNE ratings family.
Carbon Ratings sits alongside a wider set of rating, data and advisory products built on the same methodology.
See how your project, portfolio, or facility would rate.
Talk to our team about a Carbon Rating, or request a walkthrough of the SYNE Index for your project type.