IIM Bangalore launches vision paper on Open Network for Carbon Markets to advance trusted, interoperable carbon markets
The initiative is being co-developed by the Centre for Digital Public Goods at IIMB, Networks for Humanity (NFH), and Indian Institute of Forest Management
13 July, 2026, Bengaluru: The Centre for Digital Public Goods (CDPG) at IIM Bangalore, under the aegis of Prof. R. Srinivasan, Chairperson, CDPG and faculty of the Strategy area, in collaboration with Networks for Humanity (NFH) and the Indian Institute of Forest Management Bhopal (IIFM), launched the Open Network for Carbon Markets (ONCM) Vision Paper on 13 July 2026.
The report is available HERE.
The vision paper presents ONCM as an open, interoperable digital infrastructure designed to connect every actor in the carbon credit lifecycle, from resource owners, project developers, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) providers, verifiers, auditors and registries to exchanges, marketplaces and buyers across both voluntary and compliance markets. The initiative is founded on the principle that trust in a carbon credit comes from its evidence trail (dMRV data, verification, ownership, retirement) being interoperable and tamper-evident across every registry and market.
The paper argues that such an interoperable infrastructure can transform carbon credits into a durable, financeable asset class: one that can unlock livelihood income and climate finance for farmers, forest communities, and small projects, not just large intermediaries. ONCM is structured as three interdependent layers: a neutral foundation, namely the NFH fabric, that provides shared registries, credentialing, and tokenization infrastructure; a network layer carrying country-specific rules and methodologies; and an innovation layer where existing exchanges, platforms, and applications operate freely.
Structured across three interdependent layers, ONCM comprises a neutral foundation, namely the NFH Fabric, which provides shared registries, credentialing and tokenization infrastructure; a network layer that incorporates country-specific regulations and methodologies; and an innovation layer that enables exchanges, platforms and applications to build and operate freely on top of the shared infrastructure.
India currently contributes nearly 17% of the world's carbon credits, making it the second-largest supplier globally. With the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) expected to take effect in 2026, the paper notes that the country is at a pivotal stage in shaping the rules and digital infrastructure of its carbon market. It highlights existing challenges, including fragmented registries, opaque over-the-counter trading and manual, paper-based MRV processes that can take 12-18 months and cost thousands of dollars per project, often excluding smallholder farmers, community forestry groups and rural renewable energy projects.
The proposed open network seeks to address these limitations through shared digital infrastructure that lowers transaction costs, enables transparent pricing and provenance, strengthens auditability, and builds trust across market participants. According to the paper, the compounding effect of these efficiencies can help scale carbon markets while ensuring that greater value reaches primary resource owners.
To illustrate the network's potential, the vision paper presents the example of a farmer whose carbon sequestration is verified through satellite imagery and IoT-based dMRV evidence. The network enables project developers to onboard participants more efficiently, prepares project documentation, allows corporate buyers to verify and retire carbon credit transparently across registries, and provides regulators with a single real-time, tamper-evident audit trail from issuance to retirement, reducing duplication while also improving market integrity.
At the core of ONCM is digital Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (dMRV), which replaces one-time, paper-based audits with continuous verification through satellite imagery, IoT sensors and ground-level data feed a shared, tamper-evident record that any registry, auditor, or regulator can check against. By creating a shared evidence base, dMRV enables supply-side and demand-side verifiers to work from the same verified information while generating reports, registry submissions, dashboards and APIs that support project reporting, carbon credit issuance, ESG disclosures and policy monitoring all at once. The common evidence base is reused, avoiding the burden of rebuilding a new system for every use.
The ONCM Vision Paper is intended as an evolving framework and invites regulators, registries, exchanges, project developers, Accredited Carbon Validation Agencies (ACVAs), Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs), MRV & dMRV providers, and corporate buyers to contribute to its development. The collaborators aim to develop a minimum viable ecosystem pilot, with prototype readiness targeted for September 2026, through a co-creation approach involving stakeholders across the carbon market ecosystem.
IIM Bangalore launches vision paper on Open Network for Carbon Markets to advance trusted, interoperable carbon markets
The initiative is being co-developed by the Centre for Digital Public Goods at IIMB, Networks for Humanity (NFH), and Indian Institute of Forest Management
13 July, 2026, Bengaluru: The Centre for Digital Public Goods (CDPG) at IIM Bangalore, under the aegis of Prof. R. Srinivasan, Chairperson, CDPG and faculty of the Strategy area, in collaboration with Networks for Humanity (NFH) and the Indian Institute of Forest Management Bhopal (IIFM), launched the Open Network for Carbon Markets (ONCM) Vision Paper on 13 July 2026.
The report is available HERE.
The vision paper presents ONCM as an open, interoperable digital infrastructure designed to connect every actor in the carbon credit lifecycle, from resource owners, project developers, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) providers, verifiers, auditors and registries to exchanges, marketplaces and buyers across both voluntary and compliance markets. The initiative is founded on the principle that trust in a carbon credit comes from its evidence trail (dMRV data, verification, ownership, retirement) being interoperable and tamper-evident across every registry and market.
The paper argues that such an interoperable infrastructure can transform carbon credits into a durable, financeable asset class: one that can unlock livelihood income and climate finance for farmers, forest communities, and small projects, not just large intermediaries. ONCM is structured as three interdependent layers: a neutral foundation, namely the NFH fabric, that provides shared registries, credentialing, and tokenization infrastructure; a network layer carrying country-specific rules and methodologies; and an innovation layer where existing exchanges, platforms, and applications operate freely.
Structured across three interdependent layers, ONCM comprises a neutral foundation, namely the NFH Fabric, which provides shared registries, credentialing and tokenization infrastructure; a network layer that incorporates country-specific regulations and methodologies; and an innovation layer that enables exchanges, platforms and applications to build and operate freely on top of the shared infrastructure.
India currently contributes nearly 17% of the world's carbon credits, making it the second-largest supplier globally. With the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) expected to take effect in 2026, the paper notes that the country is at a pivotal stage in shaping the rules and digital infrastructure of its carbon market. It highlights existing challenges, including fragmented registries, opaque over-the-counter trading and manual, paper-based MRV processes that can take 12-18 months and cost thousands of dollars per project, often excluding smallholder farmers, community forestry groups and rural renewable energy projects.
The proposed open network seeks to address these limitations through shared digital infrastructure that lowers transaction costs, enables transparent pricing and provenance, strengthens auditability, and builds trust across market participants. According to the paper, the compounding effect of these efficiencies can help scale carbon markets while ensuring that greater value reaches primary resource owners.
To illustrate the network's potential, the vision paper presents the example of a farmer whose carbon sequestration is verified through satellite imagery and IoT-based dMRV evidence. The network enables project developers to onboard participants more efficiently, prepares project documentation, allows corporate buyers to verify and retire carbon credit transparently across registries, and provides regulators with a single real-time, tamper-evident audit trail from issuance to retirement, reducing duplication while also improving market integrity.
At the core of ONCM is digital Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (dMRV), which replaces one-time, paper-based audits with continuous verification through satellite imagery, IoT sensors and ground-level data feed a shared, tamper-evident record that any registry, auditor, or regulator can check against. By creating a shared evidence base, dMRV enables supply-side and demand-side verifiers to work from the same verified information while generating reports, registry submissions, dashboards and APIs that support project reporting, carbon credit issuance, ESG disclosures and policy monitoring all at once. The common evidence base is reused, avoiding the burden of rebuilding a new system for every use.
The ONCM Vision Paper is intended as an evolving framework and invites regulators, registries, exchanges, project developers, Accredited Carbon Validation Agencies (ACVAs), Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs), MRV & dMRV providers, and corporate buyers to contribute to its development. The collaborators aim to develop a minimum viable ecosystem pilot, with prototype readiness targeted for September 2026, through a co-creation approach involving stakeholders across the carbon market ecosystem.