Beyond Administration: Why National Carbon Registries Are Critical Infrastructure for the Climate Economy

As the global shift toward low-carbon development accelerates, carbon markets are becoming indispensable tools for countries aiming to meet climate goals while unlocking new avenues for sustainable investment. A recent whitepaper by S&P Global, Unlocking the Potential of Carbon Markets: Designing Carbon Registries for Success, makes a compelling case for treating national carbon registries not merely as administrative systems — but as strategic national infrastructure critical to economic and environmental resilience.

The Carbon Registry: A Climate-Era Cornerstone

Carbon registries are digital platforms that record the full lifecycle of carbon credits — from issuance and transfer to retirement. But far beyond bookkeeping, these registries are central to climate governance, enabling countries to track emissions reductions, uphold environmental integrity, and participate in international carbon markets with credibility.

“Registries safeguard assets that have financial value,” the report notes, “and must therefore be designed to meet international standards of transparency, security and traceability.”

Their function is not dissimilar to national banking systems or land registries — creating an authoritative and trusted mechanism to account for a valuable national resource: carbon.

From Policy to Market: Bridging the Gap

The true power of a national registry lies in its ability to convert policy into actionable, verifiable outcomes. It allows governments to link climate strategies — as carbon taxes, emissions trading schemes or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — with real-time data on project performance and carbon credit flows.

This is especially crucial under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which enables countries to trade carbon credits internationally. Nearly 100 bilateral deals have already been signed in 2025 under Article 6.2. Participation in this market requires countries to report transactions, apply corresponding adjustments, and ensure alignment with the UN’s international registry — all of which hinge on having a functional and interoperable carbon registry.

Infrastructure That Attracts Investment

Recognising carbon as a national asset opens the door for carbon finance to drive domestic development. Countries like Ghana, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia are already leveraging carbon registries as part of broader investment and economic strategies. Registries make it possible to verify the impact of projects, issue credible credits, and give investors confidence in both the environmental and financial integrity of the system.

This level of transparency is becoming a prerequisite for accessing climate finance from entities such as the Green Climate Fund or international development agencies, many of which now assess “registry readiness” before funding is approved.

Building for Purpose, Not Just Compliance

While some countries may be tempted to adopt low-cost, manual tracking systems using spreadsheets or open-source templates, the S&P Global whitepaper warns that such approaches are insufficient for long-term climate and economic planning. Manual systems lack scalability, security and interoperability—creating a bottleneck as carbon market activity scales up.

Instead, registries should be designed with the same seriousness and foresight as other national infrastructure projects. Countries can choose to:

Leverage independent standards (e.g., Verra, Gold Standard) using an accounting registry;

Develop a national programme with a proprietary transactional registry; or

Adopt a hybrid model, aligning local systems with international methodologies.

Each option entails trade-offs in terms of cost, control, flexibility, and international acceptance—but all require strong technological foundations and institutional capacity.

The Interoperability Challenge — and Opportunity

One of the biggest barriers to effective carbon market participation is the fragmented nature of global carbon standards, over 60 and counting, each with different data formats and governance structures. Registries that cannot “talk to each other” risk double counting, inefficiencies, and loss of credibility.

S&P Global advocates for robust interoperability — using APIs, blockchain, and harmonised data protocols to ensure registries can integrate across borders and with the UN’s mechanisms. Initiatives like the Carbon Data Open Protocol and collaboration with the World Bank’s Carbon Markets Infrastructure Working Group are helping set the foundation for this next phase of registry evolution.

Strategic National Asset

Ultimately, the whitepaper urges policymakers to view carbon registries as dynamic infrastructure built to grow and evolve with national priorities, market demands, and technological advancement. They are not simply instruments of record-keeping, but foundational systems that enable countries to manage carbon strategically, attract investment, protect environmental integrity, and assert sovereignty over their climate trajectories.

“Registries should be considered long-term investments,” the report concludes. “They must be designed with the flexibility to evolve alongside the market.”

For countries eyeing climate leadership and green growth, investing in a strong, secure and scalable carbon registry may prove one of the most important infrastructure decisions of the decade.