Carbon Intelligence Brief · Updated 13 July 2026
What is the Carbon Index Protocol?
Carbon Index Protocol (CIP) is an institutional-grade intelligence layer for the voluntary and compliance carbon markets. It combines the C100 equity index, an AI Carbon Analyst, and the $CUT credit vault so that allocators, corporate sustainability teams, and journalists can score companies, verify retirements, and settle on-chain — all against a single, auditable methodology.
“High-integrity carbon credits must deliver real, additional, permanent, and verifiable emission reductions or removals, and be backed by robust quantification and governance.”
How the CIP Score works
Every C100 constituent receives a CIP Score from 0 to 100. Consequently, the score is not a single opinion but a weighted average of seven independent dimensions. Specifically, Carbon Activity (25%) and ESG Compliance (20%)carry the largest weights, because they capture both what a company does and how transparently it reports. Furthermore, Credit Quality (15%) and Transition Execution (15%) anchor the score to verified retirements and SBTi-aligned pathways. Finally, Financial Strength (10%), Sentiment Integrity (10%), and Innovation Premium (5%) add forward-looking context.
Key statistics at a glance
- 100 publicly traded constituents in the C100 index, rebalanced quarterly.
- 7 weighted scoring dimensions, disclosed with full weights.
- 487M tCO₂e of registry credits traced across 6 major registries.
- $4.2T in combined market capitalisation covered.
- Daily refresh on prices, sentiment, and retirement ledgers.
- 0 — the number of unverified credits eligible for the vault.
Definitions you'll see across the site
- C100 Index
- A curated basket of 100 listed companies whose revenues, emissions, or transition plans are most material to the carbon economy.
- $CUT
- The Carbon Utility Token used to gate AI tools, settle index-linked activity, and burn against verified retirements.
- Proof-of-Carbon-Action
- A receipt that binds a $CUT burn to a specific registry serial range, methodology, and transaction hash.
- Integrity Tier
- An A+ → F grade derived from the CIP Score, calibrated against ICVCM CCPs and Oxford Principles removal tiers.
Nuance & limitations
However, the CIP Score is not financial advice, and it should not be read as a decarbonisation guarantee. On the other hand, it is an evidence-linked composite designed for triage: it narrows a universe of thousands of climate-adjacent tickers to a shortlist you can defend in an investment committee. Additionally, some sub-scores rely on self-disclosed data; we flag those rows with a data-readiness marker so reviewers can prioritise verification work.
Authoritative sources we cite
- ICVCM — Core Carbon Principles (governance floor for credit integrity).
- VCMI — Claims Code of Practice (rules for corporate claims using credits).
- SBTi — Corporate Net-Zero Standard (transition trajectory benchmark).
- Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Offsetting (2024) (removal-first framework).
- IPCC — AR6 Synthesis Report (scientific baseline for pathways).
