The Global Carbon Council (GCC) has launched a public consultation on its draft methodology, GCCNMT016: Methodology for Clean Cooking Transitions using Digital MRV (DMRV) Protocol. This innovative methodology is a major step forward in aligning carbon markets with real-world development priorities, enabling large-scale, high-integrity financing of clean cooking solutions across developing countries.
The Challenge
Traditional cooking practices using inefficient biomass and fossil fuels are major contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, deforestation, and household air pollution, disproportionately affecting women and children.
While clean cooking interventions are highly cost-effective and socially impactful, existing carbon methodologies have struggled to capture their complexity at scale. GCCNMT016 addresses this gap by combining robust carbon accounting with Digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (DMRV), ensuring transparency, accuracy, and real-time tracking of clean cooking performance.
Scope & Applicability
The methodology enables quantification of emission reductions from projects that include cooking energy transitions implemented at households, residential, institutional and commercial establishments using DMRV protocol. It applies to:
- Transition from inefficient, traditional biomass and fossil fuel stoves to improved cookstoves.
- Adoption of electric, biogas, ethanol, LPG, and other clean cooking technologies.
- Programs implemented in rural, peri-urban, and urban settings.
By integrating digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (DMRV) protocol, the methodology allows use of a software solution towards automation of data capture with provision for data validation, data management, immutability of collected data, and data storage; automated estimation of emission reductions using predefined algorithms; reporting of emission reductions and strengthening the credibility of emission reduction claims.
Key Features of GCCNMT016
- Full integration of DMRV for monitoring, automation, and data transparency.
- Robust baseline and additionality assessments aligned with Article 6.4 Standard.
- Accurate quantification of fuel displacement and emission reductions, minimizing over-crediting.
- Scalable programmatic design, suitable for large interventions across multiple regions.
- Strong safeguards for data integrity and verification, ensuring confidence in credits.
Together, these features make GCCNMT016 technically rigorous, market-relevant, and aligned with emerging best practices for high-integrity carbon markets.
Why This Matters
Clean cooking transitions sit at the intersection of climate action, public health, gender equity, and sustainable development. By providing a robust DMRV-based framework, GCCNMT016:
- Unlocks large-scale climate finance for clean cooking deployment
- Strengthens confidence in clean cooking–based carbon credits
- Supports host countries in achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
- Delivers measurable health, environmental, and socio-economic co-benefits
This methodology advances GCC’s mission to align carbon market mechanisms with real-world decarbonization and sustainable development pathways.
How to Participate in the Public Consultation
GCC invites governments, project developers, validation and verification bodies, market participants, and other stakeholders to review the draft methodology and provide feedback.
- Comment Period: Open until 17th February 2026
- Submit Comments To: operations@globalcarboncouncil.com
GCC encourages all experts in clean cooking, DMRV, and carbon markets to participate and help shape a robust, scalable, and future-ready methodology.
