Standards

The Ithaka Institute has been building certification infrastructure for biochar quality and carbon sinks since 2011. What began with the European Biochar Certificate has grown into a family of standards covering the major pathways of carbon dioxide removal - from biochar production and its use as a geological carbon sink, through enhanced rock weathering and tree-based carbon uptake, to carbon storage in buildings and construction materials.

EBC

The EBC was the world's first biochar standard, built on the principle that only controlled, high-quality biochar should enter soils where it may persist for thousands of years. To the best of our scientific knowledge and practical experience, we helped regulators, producers, and users prevent hazards to health and the environment in the production and use of biochar.

Biochar C-Sink

The Global Biochar C-Sink Standard — originally published in 2020 as the EBC C-Sink — was the world's first certification standard for negative emissions. It defines how biochar carbon is quantified, tracked, and registered from atmosphere to geology, and remains the scientific foundation on which the biochar carbon removal market was built.

Artisan

From cookstoves to closed pyrolysis, the Global Artisan C-Sink Standard enables low- and mid-tech biochar producers worldwide to generate verified carbon removal while building climate-resilient farming systems. Five production classes with scaled monitoring, analytics, and third-party verification ensure that every certified carbon sink meets the same integrity standards regardless of scale.

Construction

Buildings can be carbon sinks. The Global Construction C-Sink Standard certifies the biomass-derived carbon stored in construction materials — from structural timber and straw insulation to biochar in concrete and asphalt — turning the built environment into verified, temporary and long-term carbon sinks.

Tree

The Global Tree C-Sink Standard is the first tree-based carbon certification that certifies annual carbon uptake. It pioneers with including agroforestry systems and urban trees alongside afforestation and reforestation. Every certified tree is individually geolocated, digitally monitored, and registered in the Global C-Sink Registry.

Rock - Enhanced Weathering

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) may become one of the largest carbon removal pathways on Earth. The Global Rock C-Sink Standard was the first to certify ERW projects - and the only one honest enough to distinguish between what can be certified today and the carbon drawn down by weathering but cannot yet be reliably measured and predicted.