How Abatable assesses carbon credit risk

Carbon markets continue to evolve fast. New technologies, standards, and methodologies,  from engineered removals to digital MRV and jurisdictional carbon schemes, are reshaping what carbon market buyers and investors need to understand before committing capital. Yet credit quality remains inconsistent, fragmented, and difficult to verify. Without the right tools in place, this can result in uncertainty over the integrity, longevity, and investability of carbon assets.

Abatable's due diligence framework is built for exactly this reason - to I  equip corporates and investors with the information to decisions aligned with their own risk appetites and strategic objectives. The goal is more than a quality assessment,  it's a foundation for trust, transparency, and performance across every procurement and investment decision.

Underpinning all of it is independence. Abatable holds no inventory and owns no credits. We're paid by clients, not suppliers – which means our assessments are free from the conflicts of interest that can arise when a provider has a stake in the projects it's evaluating.

Quality in the eye of the client

Quality matters, but what makes a project high quality is shaped by the buyer's objectives. One buyer might weigh methodological conservatism above everything else; another might prioritise community impact or biodiversity outcomes.

Because of this do not collapse risk into a single score, thereby avoiding risk weighting in a framework determined by us. Instead we give clients a granular view of the risk a project carries across 16 indicators – spanning project quality, methodology, policy environment, and the developer itself – we give them the information they need to determine quality on their own terms.

We classify each indicator as 'No risk', 'Minor risk', or 'Major risk'. It's a traffic-light system grounded in evidence, and it puts the judgement where it belongs: with the buyer.

The five pillars

Abatable's framework sits on five core pillars of risk. Together, they capture  risks market users face and what a purely project-level view would miss.

Multiple levels of due diligence to fit your needs

Not every transaction warrants the same depth of scrutiny. A spot purchase of issued credits carries different risks to a ten-year prepaid offtake into an early-stage project. Abatable's tiered approach reflects this.

For nature-based projects, Geo screening supports desk-based review  with a close up interrogation of what is happening on the ground. Our platform integrates automated geospatial insights for nature-based projects to either validate or challenge the assumptions.

Informed decisions, not verdicts

Buyers and investors using Abatable's framework don't receive a verdict. They receive a structured, auditable view of the risks in every project they're considering – grounded in evidence, reviewed by experts, and delivered with full transparency on sources and methodology.

The decision about which risks to accept remains theirs. The buyers who navigate the market the best are the ones who go in with their eyes open.

Find out more about our Due diligence solutions here.