The fragmentation of carbon markets must be fixed

Policymakers need to implement global standards if we are to scale up the role of credits

Vera Songwe

The writer is a non-resident senior fellow in the Global Development and Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution

Financial Times – September 11, 2024 – One of the thorniest talking points in climate right now is the carbon credit market. This remains a critical mechanism for funding projects that help offset greenhouse gas emissions at scale. Nevertheless, some areas — namely, the so-called voluntary credit markets — have an integrity problem, which is holding back adoption of the whole. Stakeholders can help supply a solution by moving the entire market towards a compliance-based approach.