{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T12:54:42Z","timestamp":1771937682892,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":65,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]],"date-time":"2025-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758499200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Computers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The 2015 Paris Agreement paved the way for the carbon trade economy, which has since evolved but has not attained a substantial magnitude. While carbon credit exchange is a critical mechanism for achieving global climate targets, it faces persistent challenges related to transparency, double-counting, and verification. This paper examines how Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) can address these limitations by providing immutable transaction records, automated verification through digitally encoded smart contracts, and increased market efficiency. To assess DLT\u2019s strategic potential for leveraging the carbon markets and, more explicitly, whether its implementation can reduce transaction costs and enhance market integrity, three alternative approaches that apply DLT for carbon trading were taken as case studies. By comparing key elements in these DLT-based carbon credit platforms, it is elucidated that these proposed frameworks may be developed for a scalable global platform. The integration of existing compliance markets in the EU (case study 1), Australia (case study 2), and China (case study 3) can act as a standard for a global carbon trade establishment. The findings from these case studies suggest that while DLT offers a promising path toward more sustainable carbon markets, regulatory harmonization, standardization, and data transfer across platforms remain significant challenges.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/computers14090403","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]],"date-time":"2025-09-22T11:18:16Z","timestamp":1758539896000},"page":"403","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Beyond Opacity: Distributed Ledger Technology as a Catalyst for Carbon Credit Market Integrity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1306-7947","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stanton","family":"Heister","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The School of Business, Portland State University, 1825 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4800-9130","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felix Kin Peng","family":"Hui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Group, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia"}]},{"given":"David Ian","family":"Wilson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Group, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4747-0774","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yaakov","family":"Anker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Group, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia"},{"name":"Department of Chemical Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Environmental Research, Eastern R&D Center, 65 Ramat HaGolan Street, Ariel 40700, Israel"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S43","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clipol.2003.09.014","article-title":"Systems for Carbon Trading: An Overview","volume":"3","author":"Hasselknippe","year":"2003","journal-title":"Clim. 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