Yes, The Gold Standard Project shall demonstrate Ongoing Financial Need, or Financial Additionality, at Certification Renewal.
In order to demonstrate ongoing financial need, the project shall provide a qualitative narrative, supported by an overview of project finances, that demonstrates how the finance derived from Gold Standard Certification is material to the ongoing sustainability of the Project.
The narrative may include, but is not limited to the following:
(a) Information highlighting the key categories and amounts or relative proportions (%) of project income and outgoings, including the relative proportion of certification-related cost and revenue.
(b) Description on how finance-derived Gold Standard Certification contributes to or is being used to sustain or enhance the project.
(c) Where no revenue is realised from Gold Standard certification during a given period, this would be considered a Forward Action Request (FAR) for the next Issuance.
Please see relevant Activity Requirements for additional requirements to demonstrate Financial Additionality and Ongoing Financial Need.
If the stakeholder consultation for the Project was conducted after the start date of the Project, the Gold Standard reserves the right to require that the Project Developer demonstrate the revenues from carbon credits were seriously considered in the decision to implement the project.
Evidence to support carbon revenue consideration and continuous actions may include contracts, draft versions of project information, correspondence with financial institutions or other stakeholders, minutes and notes of Board/Management meetings, agreements or negotiations with auditors, or publications in newspapers.