Welcome to the EM Carbon Markets Hub

EM will be releasing in February/March new solutions to enable more timely information on voluntary carbon markets including offsets credit pricing on core carbon and additional attributes, transactions, deliveries, and dynamics of supply, demand, and regulations. These developments will improve the ease of reporting and data connectivity for a growing global network of stakeholders including EM Carbon Survey Respondents (e.g. project developers, investors, retailers, brokers, trading platforms), corporations with net-zero and carbon neutrality goals, governments, civil society, consultants, and academics.
EM Data Intelligence Platform (beta testing)
- Beta testers can log-in here.
- Sign up here to request a spot as a beta tester. Pre-invited pilot and beta users of these new developments include EM’s Strategic Supporters and a select group of committed organizations that have responded consistently to the EM Carbon Survey.
EM Global Carbon Survey Platform (pilot testing)
- The platform is currently in pilot testing, available for beta testers soon, and will launch to the public in late-February.
- Recognize your organization amongst your peers. Sign up here to ensure you are added to the 2021 EM Carbon Survey list.
Download the second installment.
Building upon the first installment of SOVCM 2020, this second installment presents additional EM data and analysis in light of recent recommendations from the Institute of International Finance’s (IIF’s) Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (the Taskforce) to provide insights into:
- How voluntary carbon offset market participants price both core carbon and additional attributes (e.g., project types, co-benefits, location, vintage); and,
- The ways EM data can inform this price discovery going forward.
Download the first installment.
In this installment, we discuss key insights and findings garnered from Forest Trends’ annual 2020 Ecosystem Marketplace Carbon Survey cycle.
Key Findings from this installment:
- Corporate carbon-neutral pledges fueled a record transaction volume of at least 104 MtCO2e in 2019, which is an increase of 6 percent over 2018. Figures may be adjusted with data from new respondents.
- Volume has been surprisingly strong in 2020. Anecdotal evidence based on interviews with market participants indicates it may even exceed that of 2019, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Broader pledges have compensated for the loss of volume from the aviation and tourism sectors.
- Average offset prices remained flat in 2019, but with wide variance by type. Prices for offsets associated with Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) and Natural Climate Solutions (NCS), for example, increased 30 percent, while prices for offsets from renewable energy decreased 16 percent.
- Price and volume moved in opposite directions for these leading offset types. Agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) volume dropped 28 percent and renewable energy volume surged by 78 percent.
- Despite the lower volume, the market value of AFOLU offsets was more than twice that of Renewable Energy, and demand for offsets associated with forest management in developing countries (i.e., REDD+) remains especially strong.
Each year since 2007, hundreds of market participants worldwide and across all project types have responded to the EM Carbon Survey to signal that transparency is the key to robust and credible markets. As an independent and neutral third-party, EM brings credibility and holds the confidence of this global network that has reported tens of thousands of detailed offset transactions to EM.
- Who has responded? Check out the EM Directory of Carbon Survey Respondents.
- Join this growing group of respondents and recognize your organization amongst your peers. Sign up now to ensure you are added to the 2021 EM Carbon Survey list.
MARCH 10, 2020 / Global airlines are committed to delivering “carbon-neutral growth” in flights between countries, even if international air traffic doubles or triples, as some are projecting. That commitment kicks in next year, and a key vehicle for meeting it is the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
Created through the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), CORSIA will only deliver carbon-neutral growth if it recognizes a universe of offsets that’s large enough to meet variable demand but small enough to incentivize new activities that reduce emissions. Analysis by Ecosystem Marketplace finds that current proposals do just that. Click here to download.
Additional EM Insights & Past Publications
- 2020 CORSIA Analysis: Global Carbon Markets Can More than Meet Civil Aviation Demand
- Corporate Offset Demand Analysis – Buying In: Taking Stock of the Role of Offsets in Corporate Carbon Strategies
State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Reports
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2019
- Market Overview: data from 2017 and 2018
- Market Dynamics: details trends observed in 2019
- Market Direction: offers observations on market forces in 2020 and beyond
- Voluntary Carbon Market Insights: 2018 Outlook and First-Quarter Trends
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2017
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2016
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2015
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2014
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2013
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2012
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2011
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2010
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2009
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2008
- State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2007
View more publications on the Forest Trends website
Navigate Around the Ecosystem Markets Map
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Freelance writers are welcome to submit expressions of interest to write for EM News.
If you’d like to be notified of future positions as they are announced, please email us at info@ecosystemmarketplace.com with your resume and, if applicable, examples of writing.
Guidance Resources
- For up-to-date information on environmental markets, sign up for our newsletters.
- Fact sheet: Producing a Voluntary Carbon Offset
- Fact sheet: Voluntary Carbon Offset Project Types and Categories
- Infographic: CORSIA and the Voluntary Carbon Markets
2021 EM Strategic Supporters & Collaborators
As an initiative of non-profit Forest Trends, Ecosystem Marketplace’s work would not be possible without generous financial and in-kind support. We are seeking sponsors for our work, including tracking environmental markets, reporting on news, and future editions of this newsletter. Click here to contact us about sponsorship and advertising.
In 2006, Ecosystem Marketplace was initially created to improve transparency and price discovery in the voluntary space, as there is no centralized system for transacting voluntary carbon credits. Since then, our team has annually distributed surveys to our network of project developers, investors, retailers, and brokers to collect confidential information about their voluntary carbon offset market transactions. The resulting reports, provided free of charge, provide all market participants – from small project developers to large corporate buyers to policymakers – a comprehensive view of market conditions.