# The PIE — Proven Improvement Evaluation

**One line:** The PIE witnesses, evaluates and proves the ecological and social
improvement that Improvers make, and records it as proto-assets with a dollar value.
Proof before price.

## What it is

The Proven Improvement Evaluation (PIE) is not a certification and not an offset
scheme. It is the measurement-and-proof system at the base of the Living Economy.
Earth Returns R&D established and built it, and continues to refine it.

## How an evaluation runs

1. **Witness** — we observe the real improvement made by Improvers, in place and
   over time.
2. **Evaluate** — 330+ data points across ecological, social and governance signals.
3. **Prove** — independent Provers verify. Nothing unproven is allowed across.
4. **Register** — verified improvement is recorded as PIE Points — proto-assets with
   a dollar value.

## PIE Points

- A PIE Point is **verified improvement with a dollar value attached**.
- Points are **proto-assets** — the bricks of KiniCo companies, and the raw material
  of the Living Economy.
- A Point is an **asset in construction**: it carries its true value only once it
  returns a dividend to its owner.
- A Point is **held by the Improver** who made the improvement.
- A Point is **not** a carbon credit, biodiversity credit, or offset.
- Points can later be exchanged for shares in a KiniCo — with a capability
  assessment in between (see kinico.md).

## The register

Earth Returns Group companies manage the register and arrange for PIE Points to be
swapped for shares. Independence of the underlying evaluations is held by the
Provers, through the PROVE Institute (see provers.md).

## Verifiable figures

- 330+ data points per evaluation.
- 5.5 million hectare-years verified across Australia (area × duration of commitment).
- ~9 years of field record.

## What we do NOT claim

We do not claim the PIE is a financial product, a guarantee of return, or a
regulator-approved instrument. It is a verification system; commercial structures
sit on top of it (see kinico.md, fund.md).