How the voluntary carbon market could help us get to net zero
- Media Manager
- Mar 22, 2023
- 1 min read
World Economic Forum
Climate Change
Published: March 23rd, 2023
The world needs to reduce emissions fast to keep within 1.5˚C. The science tells us we need to cut global emissions in half by 2030 to be on a pathway to net zero by 2050. It also tells us that one third of cost effective emissions reductions required by 2030 (up to 10Gt per year) can be delivered through natural climate solutions (NCS), which aim to protect, restore and better manage forests, soils and wetlands. The voluntary carbon market (VCM) enables investors, governments, non-governmental organizations and businesses to voluntarily purchase verified emissions reductions in the form of carbon credits. This is a crucial tool to unlock the full potential of NCS, which have traditionally been under-funded and undervalued.
In order for NCS to achieve their full potential, we need to place a financial value on the benefits they provide – such as storing carbon, filtering water, producing oxygen and promoting biodiversity. We also need to unlock vast amounts of private capital. The VCM achieves both of these things through being the first global private market to really value at scale the service an ecosystem provides to the planet – in this case, storing carbon. From years of first-hand personal experience trying to scale NCS, it’s so much easier attracting large flows of private capital now with a vibrant VCM than it was a few years ago. The VCM is by no means the only solution for funding NCS – but is a really important and tangible mechanism we can use right now.
