Gold Standard updates four clean cooking and thermal energy methodologies

Gold Standard has updated four clean cooking and thermal energy methodologies and introduced a digital stove monitoring tool, effective for all 2026 credit vintages onwards. The updates, which follow a public consultation, aim to align 34% of Gold Standard's current project portfolio with Paris Agreement accounting principles. The revised methodologies, including Reduced Emissions from Cooking and Heating (RECH) V5.0 and Metered & Measured Energy Cooking Devices (MECD) V2.0, establish a unified market framework from micro-scale to fully metered interventions. These changes strengthen environmental integrity, ensure conservative crediting, and aim to improve scalability and accessibility for projects in diverse settings. The updates also incorporate enhanced safeguards and new digital monitoring options to maximise market viability.