Carbon Data Open Protocol released version 2.0 of its open-source schema, expanding from four to 11 categories that cover a credit's full lifecycle. The update adds fields for crediting period, co-benefits, durability, permanence, and project finance. The coalition behind it now has 75 members including Sylvera, South Pole, and S&P Global. The key technical change is a versioned status history. Instead of overwriting a credit's status when it is reissued, corrected, or rated, the new model keeps a permanent audit trail. That makes it easier for buyers and platforms to verify what actually happened to a credit over time. The group is still working on categories for additionality, baseline scenarios, and verification metadata. Those are the fields most likely to expose whether a project's climate benefit is real, so the next release may matter more than this one.
