Today is Wednesday, September 27, 2023.
Another great white paper by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Bain & Company, released last September 13, 2023. Including the 10 case studies: Indigo AG, Swiss Re, American Express Global Business Travel, Salesforce (2 cases), Heineken, SAP, Ørsted, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Iberdrola.
"The voluntary carbon market (VCM), estimated at $1.3 billion in 2022 could grow to more than $50 billion by 2030 if companies begin investing more strategically today."
"Carbon markets are not new – in fact, they have existed for more than 20 years – yet they remain far from mature. Even as market infrastructure continues to evolve, the VCM represents an important lever to help accelerate high-impact climate action, protect nature and drive the energy transition towards net zero. Market growth in recent years has attracted scrutiny by critical observers and raised important concerns about the potential abuse of the VCM for corporate greenwashing. This, and the ambiguity inherent in any emerging market, has limited further corporate adoption of the VCM as expected. Yet if participation can be expanded to a wider set of global corporate leaders, the VCM could provide a valuable and immediate tool for climate finance."
The VCM in 2024 and beyond. A new narrative. Strategy, not philanthropy. Pragmatic recognition of efforts. Transparent disclosure and claims. Mature risk management. Convergence on a global carbon market. These are the topics in the first 15 pages of this 45 long paper.
Then, a very objective playbook "How corporations can navigate carbon markets". Here are the four tracks of action:
(1) Define a net-zero role for carbon credits, a complementary role. And keep focus on direct abatement in achieving science-based targets, considering technological, financial and other constraints on decarbonisation.
(2) Create value and recognition, tangible outcomes. And communicate extensively, to enhance forward-looking risk management, brand- building and employee engagement.
(3) Tailor a portfolio, high-quality, high-impact carbon credits. Initially avoidance credits. Over time, permanent carbon removals.
and (4) Orchestrate the effort, integrate carbon credits into the company’s wider strategy, closely connected to the broader decarbonisation path and overall sustainability efforts.
"Corporations that have not yet built a comprehensive climate strategy must do so. Civil society, standard setters, regulators and other market actors must collectively acknowledge the market needs improvement, learn openly and drive efforts to facilitate high-integrity climate action, without distracting from or discouraging the central priority of decarbonising value chains."
Click at the image below to give a look.
