Independent Verification
How independent third parties validate every level of the Carrot ecosystem — from facility audits to automated dMRV execution.
Independence at every level
Carrot does not rely on its own assessment to generate credits. At every level of the ecosystem, independent third parties validate that the process is sound. This separation between Carrot's operations and independent assurance is fundamental to credit integrity.
The result: no single entity controls both the execution of verification rules and the judgment of whether those rules are correctly applied.
Four levels of independent validation
Each level addresses a different dimension of trust — from physical operations to digital rule execution.
| Level | What is validated | Who validates |
|---|---|---|
| Facility audit | Physical inspection of recycling and composting facilities. Verifies that the facility operates as claimed and meets the requirements defined in the methodology. | Independent auditors |
| Accreditation | Document and process validation. Verifies that participants (generators, haulers, processors, recyclers) have proper documentation, licensing, and operational capacity. | Independent auditors |
| Methodology framework validation | The methodology framework (MvF) is validated against the source scientific methodology. Ensures the operational rules faithfully represent the scientific basis. | Validation/Verification Bodies (VVBs) |
| dMRV execution | The automated verification application (MvA) runs methodology rules against supply chain data. Every verification result is deterministic, recorded on-chain, and auditable by any party. | Deterministic software, auditable by VVBs and the public |
What Carrot does vs. what VVBs do
Carrot — technological infrastructure
Carrot provides the technological infrastructure that orchestrates and executes dMRV methodology rules, including:
- Validating data inputs against parametrized criteria
- Executing calculations and eligibility/exclusion rules
- Recording digital evidence and audit trails (logs, versions, events, automated decisions)
- Applying integrity controls and double-counting prevention, including across overlapping methodologies
What Carrot does NOT do
- Does not certify methodologies
- Does not substitute independent analysis
- Does not attest conformity by its own authority — it executes and records, in an auditable manner, what is defined in the framework and its rules
VVBs — independent assurance
Validation/Verification Bodies provide external assurance with scope and depth defined by applicable governance, including:
- Validating MvF fidelity against the source methodology
- Evaluating whether the MvA faithfully implements the MvF (technical coherence and traceability)
- Reviewing the digital evidence package generated by Carrot's dMRV system and performing tests, sampling, and additional audits
- Issuing independent reports with findings, non-conformities, and recommendations
The evidence package
Carrot's dMRV system organizes and delivers a digital evidence package — data, documents, logs, versions, and events — that VVBs use to perform their independent analysis. This package is the interface between automated verification and human judgment: everything the system records becomes input for independent review.