

The total market value would only be $15 billion each year in 2030. There’s oversupply of credits and 8 billion of them will be produced annually, mostly from avoided deforestation.Īs shown in the graph above, carbon prices in the VCM scenario will go up to only $12/ton in 2030 and $35/ton in 2050. In this case, they’ll need about 5.4 billion credits each year in 2050. In the first scenario, entities can buy any type of carbon credits to meet their decarbonization goals. Under each scenario, demand grows at various rates, and so do the prices. The BNEF modeled supply, demand, and prices for carbon offset credits under three different scenarios by 2050. This is the first time that it has happened in VCM history. In particular, retirements of renewable energy and forestry credits declined in two consecutive quarters as shown below.

Voluntary Carbon Credits Retirement Source: AlliedOffsets 2022 has seen slowing growth in retirements after last year’s explosion as seen in the chart below. In a different market analysis by AlliedOffsets, the lack of growth in the VCM is due to a slowdown in retirements of carbon credits. REDD+ projects, in particular, are still under criticism after analysis claiming they produce “ghost credits”. There were accusations of greenwashing in buying carbon credits from nature-based projects that had questionable environmental impact. Remarkably, the supply of credits from “avoided deforestation” fell by a third from 2021 to 2022. The major reason being is the fear of reputational risk from buying low-quality credits.īut carbon credits supply jumped by 2%, with a total of 255 million carbon offsets generated globally. Firms bought only 155 million carbon credits as offsets, down 4% from 2021.Yet the market failed to grow last year as BNEF reported in its Long-Term Carbon Offsets Outlook. Investments in VCM projects grew to $10 billion in 2022, up from $7 billion in 2021, a new report has found. “More rigorous definitions of quality and greater emphasis on carbon removal could solidify market confidence, lift prices and drive demand.” The VCM Growth (2021 – 2022)

But the research provider also noted that: Under its current structure, the VCM is “not built for success”, BloombergNEF said. Verified emission reduction credits or carbon credits are traded in the voluntary carbon market (VCM), equivalent to 1 ton of carbon reduced or removed. The total value of carbon credits traded in the market to help entities achieve their net zero goals can be worth $1 trillion as early as 2037, according to a recent report by BloombergNEF.
