ESG NOW! Carbon Markets Panel Sees Huge Opportunity for Carbon Offset Funds

Panellists highlighted the important role and potential of carbon markets in the transition to net zero.

  • Compliance and voluntary markets hit all-time highs this year boosted by the catalyst of COP26
  • Companies will increasingly turn to voluntary carbon markets to offset their residual emissions
  • There’s huge potential for product innovation such as wrapping carbon credits into structured products

At ESG NOW!, Nomura’s global sustainable finance conference, Eddie Listorti, CEO of Viridios Capital, Andrew Bowley, Wholesale Governance Officer at Nomura and Roy Choudhury, Partner at Boston Consulting Group discussed the crucial role carbon markets will play in the coming decade to help companies offset their residual emissions.

Choudhury spoke about carbon markets being at a key inflection point as large companies come under increasing pressure to disclose their carbon market footprint and carbon reduction strategies for their residual emissions, which will necessitate increased use of voluntary carbon markets.

Bowley explained how carbon needs to be properly priced as only 500 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent can be emitted to meet net zero goals under the Paris accord and the current rate is 50 gigatonnes per year. He explained how the quality of the underlying projects for carbons offsets can help to scale and grow the market.

Listorti painted a picture of the untapped potential in the carbon markets, which have seen a huge spike in prices this year. To take one example, renewable energy credits moved from 78 cents/tonne in January to A$8.50 in December, a gain of 1200%.

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