Accelerating climate outcomes through the Voluntary Carbon Market

Why do we need a carbon market?

To make an impact on global climate goals, corporations must reduce emissions quickly and comprehensively. Decarbonization takes time, but we need meaningful change sooner rather than later. Carbon markets are essential to drive capital towards projects that reduce and remove emissions around the world. But to make a difference, they must be capable of reducing and removing billions of tons of carbon each year, which is many times what is traded in the markets today.

What are today’s carbon markets lacking?

Today, the credible scaling of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) is hampered by the absence of necessary market infrastructure. Performance data is often inadequate or unavailable, the needs of buyers and sellers are poorly met, and there is insufficient understanding of comparability among projects. This has led to a market where both buyers and sellers face barriers to entry and the public lacks confidence in climate impact claims.

The Global Carbon Market Utility (GCMU) will solve these problems by applying what we know about infrastructure in other financial markets toward a new end: combatting climate change.

By working within the guardrails that keep our financial system safe and trustworthy, the GCMU can provide carbon-market participants with this same sense of safety and trust.

Our goal

Build a nimble market infrastructure for the VCM, so that it can achieve the scale required to meet our climate challenge – while satisfying ever-evolving financial and scientific regulations.

What will the GCMU do?

The GCMU will establish the infrastructure necessary for a trustworthy carbon market—including data transparency and management, contracts, audits, verification, and dispute resolution. This infrastructure will enable financial intermediaries, like banks and insurance companies, to enter the market, provide project financing, and house risk for end-buyers. Learn more.