IRverdi

IRverdi is an international non-profit platform and initiative focused on the integrity and verifiability of environmental data. It provides standards, tools, and datasets designed to help organizations verify claims related to greenhouse gas emissions, land use, biodiversity, water quality, and climate indicators.

The project was established in 2018 by a consortium of universities, research centers, government agencies, and civil-society organizations. A global pilot program ran in selected regions in 2020, with regional hubs expanding online collaborations and knowledge exchange through 2022.

IRverdi is governed by an independent council with representation from academia, government, industry, and non-governmental organizations. It is funded through grants, partnerships, and membership programs and operates under open governance policies that invite stakeholder input and review.

The platform’s core components include an open-source data provenance framework, a validation engine, and an audit-trail dashboard. It supports data ingestion from satellites, ground sensors, and community-sourced data; provides REST APIs, developer tools, and a training program for practitioners and researchers.

Standards and methodology emphasize voluntary data quality standards, metadata schemas, and uncertainty quantification procedures, with a focus on reproducibility. IRverdi aligns with international frameworks such as ISO 14064, the W3C PROV data model, and FAIR data principles to facilitate interoperability and reuse.

IRverdi aims to increase trust in environmental data and to enable transparent reporting by research consortia, government agencies, and civil society groups. It has faced critiques regarding resource requirements, governance transparency, and the potential for uneven participation across regions. The initiative maintains a public repository of documentation and case studies and hosts a community forum for collaboration.