Atlas · Malawi / Data Guide
DATA GUIDE

Reading the carbon projects data

What registry, status, vintage, issued and retired mean, and how to use the Carbon Projects page.

Intermediate 2 min read carbonprojectsregistrycredits

Open Carbon Projects (Explore menu). It shows projects for the country you are working in, or all of Africa with the All of Africa button.

Key terms

  • Registry: the programme that lists the project (Gold Standard, Verra VCS, American Carbon Registry, ART, Plan Vivo).
  • Status: where the project is in its life. Atlas groups registry statuses into Active, Certified design, In the pipeline and Withdrawn or inactive.
  • Vintage: the year in which emission reductions or removals happened. A project can issue credits for many vintages.
  • Issued: credits created for a vintage. Retired: credits claimed by a buyer so they cannot be sold again. Remaining: issued and not yet retired.
  • Type: the kind of activity, such as cookstoves, afforestation and reforestation, REDD+, wetland restoration or solar.

Tips. Use the Blue carbon chip for mangrove and coastal projects. Click a project for its full record, vintage chart, developer, community involvement and map location. Totals change as registries update, so check the registry record before quoting a figure.

Source. Berkeley Voluntary Registry Offsets Database v2026-08 (CC BY 4.0), with Gold Standard registry details and Plan Vivo entries. Atlas is not a registry and does not verify credits.

Limits. Registry figures are compiled by others and change over time; many projects, especially in the pipeline, have issued no credits.

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