Third-Party Verification

How independent third parties provide assurance across the Carrot ecosystem — from facility audits to dMRV evidence review.

Third-party assurance 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.

For the broader role map, including where VVBs and auditors sit in the crediting system, see Credit Ecosystem Roles.

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 biological treatment 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 third parties do

Carrot — infrastructure and approval

Carrot provides the infrastructure that orchestrates and records digital MRV (dMRV) execution. It approves methodologies, methodology verification frameworks, and third-party dMRV applications for use on the Carrot Network, then runs approved framework criteria against submitted data and preserves the resulting evidence.

Carrot does not create methodologies, verification frameworks, or dMRV applications. It also does not replace external assurance: its role is to execute approved criteria, record outcomes, and make the evidence reviewable.

Carrot's infrastructure includes:

Validating data inputs against approved framework criteria
Executing calculations and eligibility or exclusion rules
Recording digital evidence and audit trails, including logs, versions, events, and automated decisions
Applying integrity controls and double-counting prevention, including across overlapping methodologies

Third parties — independent assurance

Validation/Verification Bodies, independent auditors, and other approved assurance providers review the evidence and governance process with scope and depth defined by the applicable methodology, framework, accreditation process, or market requirement.

They may:

Validate MvF fidelity against the source methodology
Evaluate whether the MvA faithfully implements the MvF
Review the digital evidence package generated by Carrot's dMRV system and perform tests, sampling, and additional audits
Issue 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.