History | Independent Impact

Independent Impact grows from a decade of experimentation in verifiable impact accounting. Highlights include:

Aartum Whitepaper

The Aartum Whitepaper articulated the vision that unique cryptographic representations of verified communal benefits could function as symbols of value, while calling out veracity as the central challenge for blockchain-based impact ecosystems.

Anthropogenic Impact Accounting Ontology

The Anthropogenic Impact Accounting Ontology (AIAO) resulted from collaborative work in the Hyperledger Climate Action and Accounting SIG to define a foundational ontology for anthropogenic impact accounting, enabling comparison across methodologies and metrics. The Standards Working Group of the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust continues to steward four related ontologies:

These ontologies provide the formal basis for Independent Impact and make it possible to do impact accounting across different impacts and domains in a consistent manner.

Guardian Cookstove Methodology

This methodology demonstrates how rigorous methods can be executed within open verification workflows. Explore the methodology in practice through our cookstove case study video.

Adaptation Methodology

The adaptation methodology extends the platform beyond mitigation use cases. A worked example with real project data is available in the Adaptation Methodology reference.

Publication of AIAO

The formal release of AIAO to the wider community in September 2025 established shared language for anthropogenic impact—one of the building blocks for Independent Impact.