In 2019, Gold Standard received a grant from the ISEAL Innovations Fund to develop guidance for accounting and reporting the emissions of certified commodities, in close collaboration with a group of ISEAL Community Members.

Under the umbrella of the Value Change Initiative, Gold Standard commissioned SustainCERT to conduct two pilots in 2022 to get a sense of to what extent the design elements and recommendations outlined in the guidance are currently covered in some sustainability systems. The organisations that participated in these pilots were Better Cotton and Forest Stewardship Council. This report shares an overview of the approach taken for these pilots and key findings that are relevant to other sustainability systems.