The Network
The Carrot Network — a governance layer for Carrot's environmental protocols, using smart contracts for transparent and traceable decision-making as well as sharing of network proceeds.
Purpose
The Carrot Network exists for one immutable purpose, defined in the Foundation's DEED: to build the low-carbon and inclusive circular economy.
Every governance decision, protocol rule, and operational process within the network serves this purpose. The network is not a product to be optimized for extraction — it is infrastructure designed to remain focused on its mission across time.
A governance layer
The Carrot Network is a technology-enabled governance layer. It uses smart contracts to make decision-making transparent, traceable, and auditable — ensuring that the rules governing environmental credit issuance cannot be altered without visibility and accountability.
In the language of Chris Dixon's Read Write Own, Carrot represents the shift from platforms that read and write data on behalf of users to networks where participants own the rules and outcomes. The network ensures technology remains focused on its purpose and cannot become abusive to its users or the communities it serves.
Why a foundation?
Carrot is structured as a foundation — not a corporation — to guarantee that the network remains purpose-focused. A foundation cannot be acquired, cannot pivot to maximize shareholder returns, and cannot abandon its stated mission. This structure ensures that as the network grows, its governance remains aligned with building a circular, low-carbon economy rather than extracting value from it.
Stakeholders and governance
The network brings together diverse stakeholders — waste management operators, recyclers, credit buyers, methodology authors, auditors, and technology integrators — under a shared governance framework. The Carrot Foundation stewards this framework, governing methodology approval, protocol development, operational compliance, and resource allocation.
As the ecosystem matures, the Foundation will progressively expand participation mechanisms, enabling active contributors to have a voice in the protocol's evolution. The network's responsibility extends to governance over domain-specific protocols, starting with the Circular Economy Protocol.
Learn more
Governance
How decisions are made within the Carrot Network
The Foundation
The Carrot Foundation's role, structure, and purpose
White Paper
Long-term vision including progressive decentralization