Leveraging Blockchain: Connecting Singapore’s Carbon Credit Demand with Mexico’s Potential

5–7 minutes
Carlos de la cruz

The Attractiveness of Mexican Ecosystems: A Hub for Carbon Solutions

Singapore is positioning itself as a leading global hub for carbon services and trading. With over 120 firms in the sector, strong financial infrastructure, and a progressive regulatory framework, the city-state is driving market growth through its rising carbon tax (S$25 in 2024–2025, up to S$80 by 2030) and the International Carbon Credit (ICC) framework, which allows companies to offset up to 5% of taxable emissions with high-quality credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Exchanges such as AirCarbon Exchange and Climate Impact X further strengthen transparency and standardisation. Singapore’s market is projected to grow at over 20% annually, leveraging its role as a global trade, aviation, and shipping hub.

Mexico is a natural partner to supply these credits. With more than 32 million hectares of forests, strong traditions of community-managed forestry, and a renewable energy sector that already supplies 26% of its electricity (expected to reach 35% by 2035), Mexico offers vast potential for nature-based and clean-energy carbon projects. Its ambitious climate policies and international funding for restoration projects enhance the credibility of its offsets.

The partnership is mutually strategic: Singapore gains access to reliable, high-integrity carbon credits to meet its climate goals, while Mexico benefits from foreign investment, technical expertise, and access to global markets. Together, they can bridge supply and demand, reinforcing the integrity and expansion of global carbon markets. The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) further strengthens this connection by acting as the key bond between Singaporean companies and Latin America, fostering trade, investment, and collaboration in emerging sectors such as sustainability and carbon markets.

EcoForest is a global company specializing in developing and generating high-end carbon credit projects. As experts in financial structuring in Mexico with international reach, their approach is highly focused on the sustainability of projects, which are developed by a team of experts and the communities that own ejidos or private lands. 

By cultivating transparent and trustworthy relationships with communities, fostering an intergenerational commitment to conservation, and using the DEV Carbon Standard—an innovative methodology that relies on open data—EcoForest has established itself as one of the top carbon credit companies in LATAM. With extensive experience, EcoForest develops carbon credit projects in a wide variety of Mexican ecosystems, offering a broad spectrum of mitigation opportunities:

Forestry Projects: Focused on reforestation, sustainable forest management, and conservation of vast woodlands.

Jungle, Grassland, and Mangrove: Management of these vital ecosystems for carbon sequestration and biodiversity preservation.

Livestock: Implementation of regenerative agriculture practices to improve soil health and reduce emissions.

Desert: Developing solutions for drylands and arid regions to mitigate climate impact.

Clean energy: Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.

Regenerative agriculture: Applying sustainable farming techniques that enhance carbon capture in soil.

The DEV Carbon Standard: A Bridge of Trust and Transparency

The DEV Carbon Standard was created to ensure maximum transparency in credit validation, verification, and certification. It provides a framework for a decentralized carbon credit environment, guaranteeing that data is relevant, accurate, and reliable. Decentralization reduces reliance on closed, centralized systems that are prone to fraud, bias, or manipulation. By making all data (including KPIs, sensor outputs, and baseline calculations) openly available and continuously audited, it enables anyone with internet access to independently verify claims.

The DEV Carbon Standard audits all carbon solutions against strict engineering and data science benchmarks to rebuild trust for both buyers and landowners. When offsets are validated, both the credits and their supporting data are made public through the Open Data Platform. The DEV approach requires continuous data feeds during the Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) process, which increases credibility for buyers throughout a project’s lifecycle and allows for public scrutiny at every stage. This system also provides project managers with real-time feedback, requiring them to address issues immediately.

This “cards-open” approach also supports fairness for landowners, who can use the full access to project data to negotiate revenue shares with developers on equal footing. The system prevents double counting through a multi-layered cryptographic certification process. Each certificate is permanently linked to its supporting data, and every transaction is recorded within the certification system, making outside trades impossible18. Blockchain is used as part of a broader systems engineering framework, ensuring traceability, immutability, and ownership tracking of credits. In this model, blockchain is the “envelope sealing the offsets,” while the true integrity comes from the verified data inside.

With this design, the DEV Carbon Standard addresses the VCM’s structural inefficiencies and offers a path toward a transparent, reliable, and fair market for all stakeholders. By fostering trustworthiness and accountability, it helps unlock the full potential of voluntary carbon markets to mitigate climate change.


Blockchain Technology as a Bridge of Trust

Investing in carbon projects abroad, especially in emerging markets, can face challenges like a lack of transparency and difficulty in verifying results.

To this end, Singapore has established strict criteria for ICCs, requiring that credits comply with principles such as additionality, non-reversibility, and the avoidance of double counting. Blockchain technology is an ideal tool to meet these requirements, as the immutable and transparent nature of a distributed ledger prevents double selling and allows for clear verification of each credit from its origin to its retirement.

The DEV methodology, by using blockchain technology and a systems engineering framework, addresses these key points through its set-up design:

  • Real-time Traceability and Verification: The diverse and sometimes remote nature of projects in Mexico (for example, in forest areas) makes manual verification costly and complex. A blockchain-based system that uses continuous, cryptographically audited data streams can provide Singaporean investors with real-time visibility and confidence in project progress and emission reductions.
  • Assurance Against Fraud: “Double counting” is a significant risk in voluntary carbon markets. A blockchain system that permanently links each credit to its supporting data and records every transaction in an immutable way prevents this risk, assuring buyers that every credit they acquire is genuine and unique.
  • Social and Community Impact: Carbon projects in Mexico often involve local communities. A transparent system, can ensure that the benefits of the projects are fairly distributed among landowners and stakeholders, which aligns with Singapore’s commitment to supporting projects that promote sustainable development and generate local benefits.

The strategic investment of Singapore in blockchain-enabled Mexican carbon projects is not only a path to meeting its own decarbonization goals but also an opportunity to catalyze a more transparent and trustworthy global carbon market. This partnership leverages Mexico’s vast potential as a provider of large-scale climate solutions, with companies like EcoForest leading the way in developing and verifying high-quality, high-integrity projects.

For inquiries regarding the DEV Carbon Standard, EcoForest, or potential project collaborations, please contact

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