Gold Standard launches first biochar carbon removal methodology for all project scales

## OzelCarbonOS VCM Intelligence Brief — 3 November 2026 **Removals methodology expansion.** Gold Standard has [launched its first biochar carbon removal methodology](https://carbon-pulse.com/566669/), designed to credit projects from small distributed kiln networks to large industrial facilities. The move significantly broadens the creditable removal pathway menu under Gold Standard and is likely to catalyse supply of durable, engineered-removal credits at a time when corporate buyers are increasingly tilting portfolios toward high-permanence removals. Biochar credits have historically traded at a premium to nature-based avoidance credits, and a standardised methodology could improve liquidity and compress bid-ask spreads over time. **Article 6 integrity under scrutiny ahead of COP31.** An NGO review found that [all 15 countries assessed under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement failed to meet even basic reporting requirements](https://carbon-pulse.com/567093/), casting doubt on the transparency and environmental integrity of the first wave of internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs). Separately, a business coalition [urged COP31 negotiators to remove operational barriers slowing the rollout of Article 6 mechanisms](https://carbon-pulse.com/567084/). The tension between accelerating market activity and ensuring robust oversight will be a defining theme at COP31, with direct implications for CORSIA-eligible credit supply and the linkage between voluntary and compliance carbon markets. **Cookstove credit integrity shaken.** India's securities regulator [imposed financial penalties and market bans on a listed carbon credit developer and several executives](https://carbon-pulse.com/567060/) after uncovering roughly $23 million in prematurely recognised revenue from cookstove projects and fictitious expense diversions. The case reinforces persistent buyer caution around avoidance-based cookstove credits and is likely to widen the credit-type spread between cookstove and removal-category credits. Reputational risk in this segment may further steer compliance-adjacent buyers toward REDD+ credits with IC-VCM CCP labels or high-integrity removal credits. **Registry and compliance-market signals.** Verra has [opened a new tranche of projects for public comment](https://verra.org/projects-open-for-public-comment-november-2-2026/), maintaining its cadence of pipeline transparency. In Australia, the ERAC chair is [pushing for government authority to halt crediting under low-integrity methods](https://carbon-pulse.com/567082/), while the government has also [opened its fourth plantation forestry funding round](https://carbon-pulse.com/567078/). Meanwhile, Malaysia's data-centre expansion — projected to generate [~44 MtCO2e annually](https://carbon-pulse.com/567083/) — underscores growing demand-side pressure in the Asia-Pacific that could translate into significant future VCM credit procurement if regulatory or voluntary commitments materialise. **Market outlook.** Today's signals point to a VCM increasingly bifurcated by credit quality: demand gravitates toward durable removals and high-integrity nature-based solutions while avoidance credits — particularly cookstove and certain REDD+ vintages — face discount pressure. Article 6 implementation gaps and enforcement actions in the Global South add headline risk but also accelerate the industry's convergence on stricter standards. Buyers should monitor COP31 Article 6 outcomes and Gold Standard's biochar pipeline for medium-term pricing catalysts.