Delve into specific carbon-related topics across the voluntary and compliance markets
21 Oct 2024
intermediateArticle 6.2 allows governments to enter bilateral agreements with each other for the trading of ‘internationally transferred mitigation outcomes’.
21 Oct 2024
intermediateArticle 6.4 established a framework for a centralized global carbon market wehre countries and companies can trade emission credits under the supervision of a UN supervisory body.
18 Oct 2024
intermediateA volume-based cap should deliver a certain emissions reduction, while a cap based on intensity may allow more flexibility but could mean emissions rise. Governments often begin by offering a significant share of permits for free and later switch to auctions.
21 Oct 2024
intermediateCarbon border tariffs level the playing field for domestic producers by assigning a price to the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of imported goods.
02 Oct 2024
intermediateMore compliance carbon markets and taxes, with rising prices, raise the risk of carbon leakage. But concessions weaken the effectiveness of the carbon price.
25 Sep 2024
basicCarbon pricing can be an effective policy tool to make polluters pay for their greenhouse-gas emissions. Out of the 60 or so programs around the world, the most common are taxes and emission-trading programs. Broadly speaking, the former guarantees the carbon price and the latter delivers a guaranteed reduction in emissions.
21 Oct 2024
intermediateCorsia aims to reduce emissions from flights between countries.
25 Sep 2024
basicGovernments have implemented over 30 compliance carbon markets around the world but few have prices high enough to drive decarbonization. Companies’ increasingly ambitious climate targets mean demand for carbon offsets has never been higher. But the voluntary carbon markets remain oversupplied.
26 Sep 2024
intermediateDesigning a compliance carbon program will require policymakers to take account of the impact on the emerging market and the livelihoods of low-income households that tend to be most impacted by the pass-through of carbon prices onto everyday purchases.
25 Sep 2024
basicA carbon price aims to ensure that the producers of greenhouse-gas emissions pay for the costs of such pollution. Such schemes have proved effective at reducing emissions, with social, economic and physical benefits. But devising an effective carbon-pricing policy is tricky.
25 Sep 2024
basicCarbon permits may be traded as part of a mandatory program, with most transactions occurring on an exchange. Carbon offsets may also be traded by participants in some compliance programs as well as companies, governments and individuals with sustainability targets. Most trades are via broker.
18 Oct 2024
intermediateAlmost all emissions trading programs have provisions or levers that can help prevent market shocks and avoid big price fluctuations. The most common types are price restrictions on permit auctions and reserves.
18 Oct 2024
intermediateSome offset buyers may prefer to work directly with a project developer through an over-the-counter transaction, while some buyers will let a broker or aggregator handle it for them, which could simplify the process but be more expensive and weaken the additionality argument.
26 Sep 2024
intermediateCarbon offset projects need to go through six key steps: the project is identified and designed; it is then validated by a registry before the project is undertaken; emissions are measured, reported and verified before the offset can be issued and traded; and the last stage is retirement.
26 Sep 2024
intermediatePrices for carbon offsets vary widely based on the project sector and location, together with nebulous factors that are hard to define and measure. One such driver is project “additionality” – whether decarbonization would have happened without offset revenue.
18 Oct 2024
intermediateSome compliance carbon markets allow participants to use offsets to meet their emission obligations. However, many governments have imposed restrictions on these credits – for example, on the location or sector of the low-carbon project – and some have banned them entirely.
25 Sep 2024
basicCompliance carbon markets typically involve governments, companies required to participate, and the finance and trading community. Voluntary carbon markets have a more complex value chain involving project developers, registries, brokers and corporations looking to meet their sustainability targets.
26 Sep 2024
intermediateGovernments planning to introduce a carbon tax or market need to take steps to bolster public acceptance. Important factors are measures to ensure fairness, the policy name and how revenue will be spent.
22 Oct 2024
intermediateCountries with abundant natural capital and strong government backing are well-placed to be key players in the voluntary carbon markets. Of these countries, Brazil is a poised to be a crucial supplier of carbon offsets.
18 Feb 2025
intermediateBloombergNEF identified a few key developments that it anticipates will play out in 2025 in global carbon markets.
26 Sep 2024
intermediateMost of the top corporate offset buyers are consumer-facing, demonstrating the influence of customers, and based in North America and Europe. Buyers primarily opt for offsets from avoided deforestation and energy generation projects – both types of emission-avoidance projects.
27 Sep 2024
intermediateInitiatives are underway to improve the environmental rigor of voluntary carbon markets, such as the Science Based Targets initiative and the Integrity Council on Voluntary Carbon Markets. In addition, private-sector players are developing technologies to improve measurability.
30 Sep 2024
intermediateThe voluntary carbon markets are oversupplied, with offset issuance climbing 54% on a compound annual basis since 2018. Most have come from nature-based solutions, such as the planting of forests, or energy generation projects, like wind and solar farms.
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