Dubai, December 4, 2023 - Today, the COP28 Presidency hosted a High-Level Roundtable on Unlocking High-Integrity Carbon Markets. The event was an important moment in support of the development of an integrated, high-integrity and global carbon markets architecture. The roundtable featured addresses from leaders of multilateral institutions, including COP28 President Dr Sultan Al-Jaber, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, and GFANZ Co-Chair and UN Special Envoy for Climate Finance Mark Carney, and senior representation from countries committed to building and supporting the scaling of high-integrity carbon markets.
The event articulated two, high-level messages:
- First, speakers addressed the respective and complementary roles of carbon pricing schemes, compliance markets and high integrity voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) noting that all three mechanisms can play a critical role in the global net-zero transition. Carbon markets could, in particular, help channel finance to high quality decarbonisation projects in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), including projects that would otherwise lack financing. ES Simon Stiell recognized the significant progress made by the Article 6.4 supervisory body, while World Bank Group President Ajay Banga announced ambitious plans for the growth of high integrity global carbon markets, with 15 countries set to earn income from the sale of carbon credits generated from preserving their forests. Speakers welcomed the significant progress made by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market and Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity initiative in setting the guardrails for high-integrity credit supply and demand in the voluntary market, while also noting the need for further capacity building to empower EMDEs to participate in international carbon markets.
- Second, participants recognized the need for coordination between key stakeholders, to ensure the remaining pieces of the global carbon markets architecture come together in 2024 and 2025. Participants recognized the significant progress made in 2023, while highlighting the continued need for coordinated action across governments, multilateral institutions, principles-setters and carbon credit standards, business and financial institutions, and the broader carbon markets value chain (including, but not limited to, verification and validation bodies and project developers), to ensure that the global carbon markets architecture comes together in a cohesive and mutually reinforcing way to support climate mitigation.
This convening marked a significant step in intensifying coordination to ensure high-integrity carbon markets function effectively and in support of our Paris Agreement commitments.
This communique is issued on behalf of the COP28 Presidency, the World Bank Group, and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero. Other participants in the event do not necessarily endorse its contents.