Proposal: Canton Carbon Infrastructure

proposals/proposal-canton-carbon-infrastructure.md

@@ -0,0 +1,286 @@
+# Canton Carbon Asset Standard
+
+## Abstract
+
+Carbon markets are a large, institutional asset class. Yet they remain fragmented, opaque, and operationally inefficient, 
+with limited integration into modern digital infrastructure. Blockchain-based carbon systems have demonstrated technical 
+feasibility, but adoption has stalled in the absence of institutional alignment and standardised infrastructure for representing 
+carbon assets on-chain.
+
+This proposal establishes a Canton-native infrastructure layer for carbon markets, delivering four interoperable components: 
+a contract-based standard for representing carbon credits, a registry-aligned integration framework, a verifiable retirement
+mechanism, and a lightweight reference marketplace for price discovery. Together these form the foundational layer required
+for carbon market activity on Canton, enabling ecosystem participants to build applications, workflows, and financial integrations on top.
+
+Defining this standard early reduces the risk of fragmentation seen in both traditional carbon markets and prior on-chain 
+ecosystems (Polygon, Base, Celo). Canton is uniquely positioned to address those failure modes. Its privacy model preserves the bilateral pricing 
+confidentiality that keeps OTC trading dominant today; its institutional custody model is native to the chain rather than retrofitted; and 
+registry alignment is built into the standard from day one rather than negotiated after tokenisation has already occurred.
+
+## Specification
+
+### 1. Objective
+
+Canton currently lacks a standard for representing and managing carbon credits as on-ledger assets.
+
+Without this, carbon market activity cannot be meaningfully deployed on the network.
+
+The objective of this proposal is to define and implement a reference infrastructure layer for carbon asset lifecycle management, enabling:
+* representation of verified carbon credits on-ledger
+* retirement of carbon credits with verifiable outputs (i.e. “retirement certificates”) synced with carbon registry infrastructure offchain.
+* basic price discovery and access mechanisms
+
+The system addresses core limitations in today’s carbon market:
+
+* fragmented and bilateral over-the-counter (OTC) trading structures
+* limited transparency and standardisation
+* low inventory velocity
+* lack of integration into digital workflows
+
+The outcome is a reusable, Canton-native standard that enables carbon credits to function as programmable assets within institutional workflows.
+
+### 2. Implementation Mechanics
+
+The implementation consists of four core components.
+
+**A. Carbon Asset Standard**
+Carbon credits will be represented as contract-based assets, defined using Daml. Key characteristics:
+* associated with structured metadata (methodology, registry, vintage, permanence)
+* owned by a party (user or custodian)
+* governed by lifecycle rules (transfer, retirement)
+
+The data structure developed for tokenized carbon credits on Canton will afford unique opportunities for creating unique product aggregations for the market, 
+for example fungible units representing a class of carbon credits, or structured products representing a number of different carbon credits. 
+
+Initial class definitions will follow established approaches for representing carbon onchain, and will be designed for iteration over time.
+
+Assets will be wallet-compatible, meaning they can be held by user-controlled parties, while also supporting custody-based flows for institutional onboarding.
+
+Daml is the natural fit for this work as its contract-based model including explicit signatories and party-level visibility, maps directly onto how 
+carbon credits already function in the real world, where issuance authority sits with the registry, and transfer and retirement rights sit with the holder. 
+Not every transaction needs to be visible to every market participant.
+
+**B. Registry Integration Framework**
+The system will define a framework for integrating with external carbon registries. One carbon registry will be invited to participate in the proposal as a 
+pilot implementation partner. 
+
+This includes:
+
+* validation of credit authenticity
+* mapping registry data to on-ledger representations and vice versa (e.g. logging retirements)
+* alignment with registry terms and requirements, including defining how onchain systems will sync with legacy systems. 
+
+Initial implementation will focus on onboarding at least one carbon credit registry partner as part of the pilot.
+
+**C. Retirement Framework**
+
+A standardised retirement mechanism will be implemented, enabling:
+* irreversible consumption of carbon credits
+* generation of verifiable retirement outputs
+* alignment with registry-side retirement records
+
+Each retirement will produce:
+* an on-ledger proof of execution
+* a standardised retirement certificate or equivalent output
+
+This component defines how carbon is consumed onchain, ensuring auditability and integrity.
+
+**D. Reference Marketplace**
+
+A minimal marketplace layer will be implemented to enable:
+* Managing transfers of carbon credits from offchain carbon registries to an account on Canton
+* listing of carbon assets at fixed prices
+* simple buyer acceptance of listings
+* basic price discovery
+
+This is intentionally limited in scope:
+* no automated market making
+* no order books
+* no complex trading logic
+
+The purpose is to demonstrate how carbon assets can be tokenized and accessed to create the foundation for a Canton-enabled carbon market -- not create a full trading venue. 
+
+The proposed model mirrors how the OTC carbon market actually works today (bilateral, negotiated and often fixed-price). The reference implementation therefore maps 
+directly to current institutional behavior rather than forcing new trading patterns. 
+
+**System Model**
+
+Assets are held by parties on Canton, controlled either:
+* directly by users (wallet-compatible model)
+* or via custodial arrangements (for institutional flows)
+*
+Carbonmark will act as:
+* builder of the standard
+* provider of the reference implementation
+
+### 3. Architectural Alignment
+
+This proposal aligns closely with Canton’s architecture and ecosystem goals.
+
+Carbon markets require:
+* coordination across multiple independent parties (registries, suppliers, buyers)
+* selective disclosure of transaction data
+* verifiable lifecycle events, particularly retirement
+
+Canton provides:
+* privacy-preserving data sharing
+* role-based access and permissions
+* deterministic, auditable state transitions
+
+This makes it particularly well suited for representing real-world assets such as carbon credits.
+
+The proposal also aligns with ecosystem priorities:
+* creation of reusable, application-layer infrastructure
+* expansion into real-world asset use cases
+* enabling institutional participation onchain
+
+This work provides a foundational layer upon which additional applications can be built, including marketplaces, retirement platforms, and financial integrations.
+
+### 4. Backward Compatibility
+
+No backward compatibility impact.
+
+This proposal introduces new application-layer infrastructure and does not modify existing Canton systems or integrations.
+
+### Milestones and Deliverables
+
+**Milestone 1: Carbon Asset Model and Specification**
+**Estimated Delivery:** Month 1
+**Focus:** Define carbon asset standard and lifecycle model
+**Deliverables / Value Metrics:**
+* Daml contract specification for carbon assets
+* carbon class framework definition
+* lifecycle model (mint, transfer, retire)
+* architecture documentation
+
+**Milestone 2: Registry Integration Framework**
+**Estimated Delivery:** Months 2–3
+**Focus:** Enable onboarding of verified carbon supply
+**Deliverables / Value Metrics:**
+* registry integration templates
+* validation and onboarding flow
+* at least one registry integration initiated
+* test cases for asset creation
+
+**Milestone 3: Retirement Framework**
+**Estimated Delivery:** Months 2 - 3
+**Focus:** Implement verifiable retirement mechanism
+**Deliverables / Value Metrics:**
+* retirement contract logic
+* proof generation
+* certificate output format
+* end-to-end retirement test flows
+
+**Milestone 4: Reference Marketplace and Workflows**
+**Estimated Delivery:** Month 4 - 5
+**Focus:** Enable asset access and price discovery
+**Deliverables / Value Metrics:**
+- fixed-price listing mechanism
+- buyer interaction flow
+- at least two end-to-end workflows demonstrated e.g. retail buyer offsetting and bulk institutional retirement
+* initial external evaluator feedback
+
+**Milestone 5: Documentation and Public Release**
+**Estimated Delivery:** Month 6
+**Focus:** Ecosystem enablement
+**Deliverables / Value Metrics:**
+- open-source contract library
+- integration documentation
+- example implementations
+- developer onboarding materials
+
+**Acceptance Criteria**
+The Tech & Ops Committee will evaluate completion based on:
+* Deliverables completed as specified for each milestone
+* Demonstrated functionality or operational readiness
+* Documentation and knowledge transfer provided
+* Alignment with stated value metrics
+* At least one registry integration completed
+
+Additional conditions:
+* carbon assets must follow defined standard
+* registry integration must be functional with provider buy-in
+* retirement must be irreversible and verifiable
+* reference workflows must be reproducible
+* system must be usable by external teams
+
+### Funding
+**Total Funding Request: 700,000 CC** 
+
+Funding Breakdown: 
+* Engineering: 75%
+* Registry Integration: 10%
+* Security Audits: 5%
+* Legal Fees: 5%
+* Ecosystem-building: 5%
+
+Payment Breakdown by Milestone
+* Milestone 1: 100,000 CC
+* Milestone 2: 150,000 CC
+* Milestone 3: 175,000 CC
+* Milestone 4: 175,000 CC
+* Milestone 5: 100,000 CC
+
+**Volatility Stipulation** 
+
+The project is not expected to exceed 6 months. If the project timeline extends beyond 6 months due to Committee-requested scope changes, 
+remaining milestones will be renegotiated to account for price volatility.
+
+**Risks and Mitigations**
+
+We have identified the most key risks and developed risk mitigation strategies based on our experience with similar projects: 
+| Risk | Mitigation |
+|------|------------|
+| Delays in securing a registry partner | Engage multiple registries in parallel to reduce dependency on a single counterparty |
+| Canton adoption risk and low initial demand | Target institutional participants and position Canton as a reference model through active engagement and marketing |
+| Availability of Daml engineering resources | Pre-identified Daml developers with relevant experience are available to support delivery |
+| Changes in carbon market infrastructure | Align with established registry standards and retirement frameworks to ensure forward compatibility 
+
+### Co-Marketing
+
+Carbonmark has an in-house marketing team that will closely work with Canton on content creation and marketing strategies. Upon release, 
+Carbonmark will collaborate with the Foundation on:
+* announcement coordination
+* technical blog or architecture write-up
+* developer walkthrough sessions
+* demonstrations to carbon market stakeholders (including to supply-side and demand-side users)
+* Attendance at ecosystem events to showcase the standard
+
+### Motivation
+
+This proposal enables Canton to support carbon markets as a new real-world asset class.
+
+Without a standard for representing and managing carbon credits on-ledger, meaningful carbon market activity cannot occur on the 
+network – or, if it occurs, it will likely be fragmented.
+
+By defining this infrastructure layer, Canton gains:
+* a new category and set of standards for an institutional use case
+recurring, non-speculative transaction activity
+* a bridge to a growing global market
+
+This positions Canton as infrastructure not just for financial assets, but for environmental markets.
+
+### Rationale
+
+This approach focuses on foundational infrastructure rather than a full application stack.
+
+It prioritises:
+* standardisation over product development
+* interoperability over vertical integration
+* simplicity over premature optimisation
+
+By delivering a carbon asset standard, registry integration framework, retirement mechanism, and reference workflows, the proposal creates the minimum viable 
+foundation required for ecosystem growth.
+
+More advanced systems, including full marketplaces or protocol layers, can be built on top once the underlying infrastructure is in place.
+
+Carbonmark brings to this proposal the specific combination of expertise that Canton needs to establish credible carbon market infrastructure: 
+deep operational experience running an at-scale onchain carbon marketplace, direct working relationships with the registries whose buy-in is 
+the critical path for Milestones 2 and 3, and first-hand knowledge of where prior tokenization efforts on other chains succeeded and where they fragmented. 
+Equally important, Carbonmark has lived through the institutional, registry, and regulatory pushback that earlier blockchain-based carbon initiatives encountered, 
+and has built its current product, registry partnerships, and Direct Credit Issuance workflow around resolving those exact frictions. 
+
+This means the Canton-native standard proposed here will not be designed from a whitepaper outwards, but from the ground truth of what registries, 
+suppliers, corporate buyers, and software integrators have actually required in production. By porting these hard-won design decisions into a 
+Canton-native standard from day one, this proposal materially reduces the risk of repeating the fragmentation that has limited carbon market 
+adoption on other blockchains, and gives Canton a credible foundation for institutional-grade carbon market activity.