Gold Standard has launched two new carbon market methodologies designed to channel climate finance into projects that provide electricity and safe drinking water to vulnerable communities.
The Powering Universal Lighting via Solar Energy (PULSE) and Safe Drinking Water Supply (SDWS) Version 2.0 frameworks aim to address critical global deficits. Current figures indicate that 655 million people globally lack access to electricity, whilst 2.1 billion people remain without safely managed drinking water.
Both methodologies are fully aligned with the Paris Agreement and Net Zero trajectories, ensuring that projects reflect national climate targets, implement falling baselines, and prevent the lock-in of carbon-intensive technologies. They also introduce digital measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems to improve data precision and prevent double-counting.
The PULSE methodology replaces the legacy AMS-III.AR framework, allowing developers to generate carbon credits by introducing solar-powered LED lighting to replace polluting fossil fuel-based alternatives like kerosene or diesel. Rather than relying on historical poverty-level consumption data, PULSE uses a suppressed demand approach to establish a baseline of 1,000 lumen-hours per day. It mandates a 100% asset census using digital tracking and applies a Downward Adjustment Factor (DAF) to keep crediting aligned with host-country climate targets.
The SDWS Version 2.0 methodology transitions water purification projects into the Paris Agreement framework. It applies to contexts where boiling water with non-renewable biomass or fossil fuels is the primary purification method. The updated framework introduces a five-step baseline approach with age-specific water volume caps, active leakage monitoring, and a DAF mechanism. It also integrates digital MRV systems, utilising Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and cellular tracking to verify operational impact.
Gold Standard currently hosts 364 certified water projects, which generated more than $1.5 billion of shared value in 2025 through contributions to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6. The organisation notes that these new frameworks represent a major step in expanding high-integrity climate finance to deliver essential services to the world’s poorest communities.
