Voluntary carbon market defies the odds
Demand for credits seen rising 20% this year despite issues around integrity and standardisation
Demand for voluntary carbon credits is on track to grow by about a fifth this year despite the market’s struggles with project integrity and fragmented liquidity, industry figures told the recent FT Commodities Global Summit. “Demand has sustained; it has not dropped. If anything, this year it will actually increase,” said Enric Arderiu, global head of environmental products at commodities trading company Mercuria. “We see an increase this year of 20% or so on retirements. So [demand] is not going down, it is not going away—it has just shifted and fragmented.” Arderiu estimated the market for voluntary credits to be about 200mt/yr of CO₂. The market has faced multiple allegations in recent y
Also in this section
27 November 2024
The agreement by the parties to raise at least $300b/yr for developing countries by 2035 was derided as a betrayal by the Global South, but the UN urged pragmatism
26 November 2024
Agreements on how to operationalise both Article 6.2 and 6.4 will mean countries can start to trade emissions reductions as part of their contributions to the Paris Agreement
22 November 2024
The Energy Transition Advancement Index highlights how the Kingdom can ease its oil dependency and catch up with peers Norway and UAE
21 November 2024
E&P company is charting its own course through the transition, with a highly focused natural gas portfolio, early action on its own emissions and the development of a major carbon storage project