Government standards

The way in which 1415 implement projects is through recognised measures, that are well documented, based on high quality criteria, and that reach very high standards that have been developed by various Swedish governmental agencies over a long period of time.

The definition of the word ‘standard’: a level of quality, or ‘something used as a measure, norm, or model in comparative evaluations’.

Standards for biodiversity measures are local by nature – non-fungible and necessarily developed with local circumstances and in collaboration with local populations (LP) and indigenous populations (IP).

What is achieved with government standards?

High quality: Measures and action programs have been developed by Swedish government agencies over a long period of time.
Local anchoring with best practices.
Creates credibility for financing.
Is an effective tool for achieving climate and environmental goals.

What does a standard for measures do?

Provides common solutions to recurring challenges,
Facilitates monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV),
Makes it easier to compare results,
Enables more efficient implementation and enforcement,
Establishes a basis for continued research and development.

Basis for standards

Basis for the government standard

The National Forest Inventory, developed by the government and managed by the Swedish Forest Agency and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), sets the standard for how to calculate CO2 in the forested landscape.

This national forest carbon calculation standard forms the basis of calculations for 1415 and our methodologies.

The 1415 Guidance Document describes in detail how to work efficiently with the National Forest Inventory and its standard for CO2 calculations, as well as how to work with biodiversity. The Guidance Document describes suitable activities based on measures designed nationally by the Swedish Forest Agency as well as measures suggested from the EU, such as in Annex VI and VII of the new Nature Restoration Regulation. (See also the Regulatory Landscape chart)

To work in the above manner enables the issuance of Nature Credits, in the forms prescribed by the International Advisory Panel for Biodiversity Credits (IAPB) (see report) and is in full alignment with the Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Certification Framework (see CRCF for a more detailed description).

The way in which 1415 have designed their methodologies further includes the Core Carbon Principles from the Integrity Council of the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), and the High Level Principles of the IAPB, ensuring an offering of products that deliver above and beyond on the sustainability criteria, and with a focus on biodiversity, ecosystem services and related food security and human health throughout.

https://www.slu.se/globalassets/slu.se/om-slu/organisation/institutioner/skoglig-resurshushallning/riksskogstaxeringen/dokument/skogsdata/skogsdata_2025_web.pdf

1415 - Scientific models, calculations and MRV

We use the best available scientific data, approved models and calculations from the Swedish Governmental National Forest Inventory, each forest owner’s specific Forest Management Plan, and for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV), national laser scanning, as well as in-situ field measurements to support and verify the calculations.

Important principles involve the use of conservative assumptions, values and procedures to ensure that carbon sinks are not over-estimated.

https://www.slu.se/globalassets/slu.se/om-slu/organisation/institutioner/skoglig-resurshushallning/riksskogstaxeringen/dokument/skogsdata/skogsdata_2025_web.pdf

Above and beyond thinking and design

Through high level principles, in alignment with global regulatory frameworks, standards, and Best Available Science, 1415 involve projects that go above and beyond on a number of sustainability criteria, and that can function on several markets.

Clear additionality, baseline starting point, durability and leakage are all addressed through rigorous monitoring protocols and scientifically established calculations, including third party verification.

The standards involved are established by governmental institutions, who play an active role not only in their design-phase but also participate in ultimate control of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) (for example via each landowner’s Forestry Plan.

Coupled with robust quantification of carbon removals, and allowing for a margin concerning leakage, as well as the use of a buffer-pool, the system as a whole gains a transparent and resilient foundation.

1415 lays the groundwork for a speedier and more sustainable path through the global transition, navigating through utilising the regulatory and financial frameworks as a map and compass to efficiently drive private finance into where it is very much needed.

Robust Environmental Attribute Certificates

There is a close interrelatedness between climate and Nature. Nature certificates, and related carbon-, hybrid- and bio-credits, should therefore ideally be designed with both in mind. Whilst previously focusing on carbon only, it is now well recognised that certificates in the form of hybrid credits can deliver on carbon and generate positive biodiversity impacts, through ‘co-benefits’.
IAPB draw the link to the EU Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF), whereby carbon farming activities, in order to be eligible, have to generate co-benefits for biodiversity and ecosystems.

The most well-developed nature credit markets today, maturity and size-wise, are carbon credit markets. Many potential initiatives and projects are compatible with a high integrity carbon/biodiversity credit approach, particularly Nature-based solutions.

https://www.iapbiocredits.org/framework

1415 operates a crediting mechanism whereby the quantity of CO₂ removed from the atmosphere is monitored, reported, and verified according to emerging CDR certification protocols.

The 1415 Methodology incorporates full life-cycle emissions and external leakage impacts. This aligns with the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM)’s Core Carbon Principles, ensuring robust quantification, transparency, and independent third-party validation and verification.

The 1415 Hybrid certificates do significantly more than a stand-alone carbon credit. The Hybrid certificate is not just about carbon sequestration, its core functions are extended into biodiversity and climate adaptation. A key focus is supporting healthy ecosystems that deliver the ecosystem services we and future generations are completely dependent on.

The system underpinning the Hybrid certificate is firmly designed with a strong regulatory foundation, from the UN Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), EU Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Certification Framework and core international legal principles as well as the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits IAPB-principles.

What is achieved is an efficient mode of working with both nature and climate simultaneously and doing so using Governmental standards, additional layers of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV), thus giving the solution a lower risk-profile for leakage.

High Quality Data Sourcing

Sweden possesses data of very high quality, and 1415 makes full use of this data which form the basis of the calculations in the modeling and gives a significant level of added security to potential issues of risks, such as leakage.

Nature is complex – thus also necessarily applicable solutions. In order to design and implement projects based on the best available science and foundations, we source our data from several sources, including the following:

Measuring biodiversity

TheUN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assesses the ongoing loss of biodiversity as one of the biggest and most urgent crises of our time.

A fact that logically follows is that we do not know how to measure biodiversity exactly because of its complexity. What we can do however is assess a biotope’s development potential, and which actions are favorable to biodiversity at a specific location.

CLIMB has developed a biodiversity measuring methodology to carry out such assessments. The model is based on the British Defra Biodiversity Metric 3.0. and is adapted to conditions in Swedish and Nordic nature.

https://climb.ecogain.se/app/uploads/2025/02/CLIMB-1.3-Teknisk-beskrivning_241219_hyperlankar.pdf

Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification - MRV

In the EU, MRV related to biodiversity refers to the process of tracking and verifying the impacts of actions on biodiversity, particularly in relation to the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Nature Restoration Law.

This includes monitoring the health and status of ecosystems, as well as the effectiveness of conservation and restoration efforts.

The CLIMB system has been used since 2023 in planning restoration measures. It has further served as basis for judgements in the Land and Environment Court, and provides key figures in line with the reporting requirements under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directiv (CSRD) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).

https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets/monitoring-reporting-and-verification_en

The CLIMB tool involves detailed calculations of the present value and the calculated change, assessing parameters such as: the art, species, biotope, area as a whole, nature value, and landscape value. The improvements sought, impacts and additionality are then assessed.

The crux is the development potential of a biotope in a given location and this is further guided from the UN Arts & Habitats Directive, the UN Birds Directive, the Natura 2000 system, and for Sweden, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Input data in the CLIMB tool is taken from a natural value inventory that is carried out according to the Swedish standard for natural value inventory SS 199000:2023.

The method allows for the development of new biodiversity key performance indicators, and is able to make ex-ante projections as well as ex-post evaluations. See Link for the entire model.