KSA Business: Carbon credits need more supply, integrity to meet global demand: IEF – Gulf Digital News

KSA Business: Carbon credits need more supply, integrity to meet global demand: IEF – Gulf Digital News

Carbon credits could make a significant contribution to achieving net zero by 2050, but only if participants address issues over limited supply and integrity, the Secretary General of the International Energy Forum (IEF) told a conference.

Trade in voluntary carbon credits could grow 100-fold by 2050 if teething problems are addressed, Joseph McMonigle said in a keynote address to the S&P Global Carbon Markets Conference in Barcelona.

"There is a huge opportunity for voluntary carbon markets, which can only be realized with concerted international efforts. Overall, the market is characterized by low liquidity, scarce financing, inadequate risk-management services, and limited data availability. Building trust in the market is vital to achieving these goals so we must work harder to improve transparency, standardization and stability," he told the audience in Barcelona.

A carbon credit is a permit which allows a country or organization to produce a certain amount of carbon emissions and which can be traded if the full allowance is not used. They come from four categories: avoided nature loss including deforestation; nature-based sequestration, such as reforestation; avoidance or reduction of emissions such as methane from landfills; and technology-based removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere like carbon capture, utilization and storage. According