We evaluate projects against 90+ indicators to ensure projects meet our standards for climate impact and systems change. We go through hundreds of pages of project documents and dig deep into measurements and methods to ensure the use of best-in-class carbon accounting techniques.

We cross-check our findings with peer-reviewed research and spend hours talking with industry experts to surface any unseen risks. Typically, this process takes a month or more and as a result, less than 5 percent of projects that come our way make it onto our platform.

We choose offset projects that are able to keep carbon out of the atmosphere. For nature-based projects, like tree planting, we make sure there is a “buffer” built into the project design to account for risks like wildfire or logging. For projects like enhanced mineral weathering, we make sure the proper measurements are used so we know when the carbon is removed and for how long it will stay out of the atmosphere (this can be up to 1000s of years!). 

Every project on Wren needs funding in order to succeed. That funding goes towards purchasing the supplies and paying for the team members necessary to make those projects happen. If a project would be profitable on its own without us, they aren't eligible for Wren.

For instance, if a landowner has protected their forest for hundreds of years and there’s no reason they’d start logging now, we won’t fund them. Their forest will likely stay standing even without money from carbon offsets.

Similarly, in most countries today renewable energy projects can be highly profitable. We wouldn’t fund a renewable energy project unless we could be certain they need our funding.

Wren’s goal is to support the systems change needed to build a sustainable and equitable future in which human and planetary health is secure. To support this, we choose projects that contribute to social, cultural, political, and economic change. For example, we fund policy advocacy because we know we need governments to step up and regulate corporations.

We also support innovative carbon removal technologies because we know our funding can help these companies scale. We also think deeply about how a project advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and prioritize projects that center the voices of those on the frontline of the climate crisis – such as Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.