The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC), established by PIF and Saudi Tadawul Group, has launched its voluntary carbon market exchange platform, bringing 22 Saudi and international companies on board on its first day of trading.
The launch of the voluntary carbon market platform is a major milestone in Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become one of the largest voluntary carbon markets in the world by 2030.
It aims to scale up the supply and demand of high-quality carbon credits across the Global South and beyond, driving funding to climate projects that require finance, supporting the transition to global net zero emissions.
The platform is designed to meet market requirements for a transparent, scalable and increasingly liquid marketplace, by offering:
Institutional-grade infrastructure, to enable fast and secure transactions
Price and data discovery for carbon credit projects, key to growing the market globally and providing a price signal on projects from MENA regions
Open market connectivity, integrated with leading global registries
Scope to develop specialized infrastructure for trade in carbon credits to enable Islamic Finance
Auction market, RFQ and block trade functionality, followed by spot market and other functions launching in 2025
To mark the launch, RVCMC is hosting inaugural transactions on the exchange platform today, auctioning over 2.5 million tons of high-quality carbon credits.
RVCMC’s due diligence aims to ensure the mix of carbon credits offered in the auction meets international high integrity standards. The basket of credits connects buyers with 17 climate projects from across the world, over three-quarters of which originated from countries across the Global South, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Vietnam.
In line with current international standard setters’ guidelines, 20 percent of this year’s auction baskets include removal credits, including some premium durable removal credits. Credits being sold today originate from diverse climate projects, including:
From across the Global South: Landfill Gas projects, capturing methane that otherwise would be released into the atmosphere from waste;
From Ethiopia: An Indigenous forest reforestation project in the Humbo region, which also aims to mitigate soil erosion and conserve water resources while providing income benefits to local communities;
From the United States: A construction technology project, aiming to capture, inject and embed carbon dioxide into fresh concrete;
To deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement and achieve global net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets, emerging markets and developing countries require $2.4 trillion of investment in climate action per year by 2030.
The global voluntary carbon market, which is expected to grow to $100 billion by 2030, can play a vital role in helping to bridge the climate finance gap, which is among the COP29 priorities.
Riham ElGizy CEO – RVCMC
“The message coming into COP is clear: To accelerate global decarbonization we must unlock financial flows to critical climate projects on an enormous scale. High-integrity voluntary carbon markets can play an important role in bridging the climate finance gap this decade. However institutional-grade infrastructure must be put in place to help buyers and sellers scale up private sector participation and achieve the market’s potential.”
ElGizy added that, “The launch of RVCMC’s exchange platform, taking place with inaugural auctions of high-quality carbon credits, is an important step in our journey to become one of the largest voluntary carbon markets in the world by 2030. One that funds climate action projects across the world to reduce and remove carbon emissions on a large scale. From projects spanning Asia to Latin America, helping to restore forests and protect biodiversity, as well as supporting carbon storage technology in construction materials or biochar production, we are working with Saudi Arabian and international businesses to move from discussion to action on climate finance in line with the COP29 agenda.”
