# P07 — Third-Party Anchoring

SCD-P07 · Principle 7 of 10

Third-Party Anchoring

“Your claim is only as strong as its external anchor.”

Digital Layer

## Definition

Every sovereign climate claim must be anchored to at least one authoritative external source: a national government dataset (IDEAM, INPE/PRODES, SENAMHI, CONAF), a multilateral intergovernmental platform (GFW, Climate TRACE, EDGAR, Copernicus/ESA), or a certified third-party verifier accredited under an international standard (Verra, Gold Standard, CBAM-accredited VVB). Internal data alone, however well-documented, does not constitute sovereign climate data.

## Rationale

Self-reported data without external anchor has zero credibility in investment due diligence, green bond verification, or regulatory audit. Anchoring to a sovereign or intergovernmental dataset transfers the burden of proof from the organisation to the global data infrastructure. For LATAM: IDEAM (Colombia), INPE/PRODES (Brazil), SENAMHI (Peru/Bolivia), and CONAF (Chile) are the authoritative national anchors for forest and climate data.

## Implementation Steps 1. Identify the authoritative external source for each reported metric type (forest: GFW/IDEAM; emissions: Climate TRACE/EDGAR; energy: IEA/national grid operator). 2. Cross-reference your data against the external anchor at least quarterly. 3. Document discrepancies between your data and the anchor, with explanation. 4. For carbon credits: work only with verifiers accredited under Verra, Gold Standard, or a national carbon market standard. 5. For CBAM compliance: obtain third-party verification from an EU-accredited VVB. ## Compliance Checklist

	Criterion	What it means
☐	External anchor identified per metric	Each metric type has a named authoritative external source.
☐	Quarterly cross-reference performed	Last reconciliation date recorded with discrepancy log.
☐	Verifier accreditation confirmed	Any third-party verifier's accreditation status has been checked.
☐	CBAM VVB in place (if applicable)	EU-accredited VVB identified for CBAM-relevant goods.

## Regulatory References - CBAM Regulation EU 2023/956 — Art. 10(3) (Accredited VVB requirement) - Verra VCS Standard v4.1 — Section 4.2 (Validation and Verification) - GFW GLAD-L Alert Methodology (Hansen et al. 2013, updated 2024) ## Recommended Tools and Platforms Global Forest Watch API Climate TRACE API EDGAR REST API Copernicus CDS API IDEAM Colombia INPE PRODES ## Keywords third-party verification IDEAM GFW EDGAR CBAM VVB carbon credits Verra