The Global Carbon Market Utility Engages EY to Build Infrastructure to Scale Voluntary Carbon Market

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Dec 04, 2023, 09:01 ET

DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at COP28, the Global Carbon Market Utility (GCMU) announced the launch of the design process for the accounting ledgers which will underpin GCMU carbon transactions. This market infrastructure will be essential for the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) to achieve its forecasted volume and scale within the next decade. GCMU will be advised by professional services organization EY in this design phase, leveraging their teams' global assurance, advisory, financial services and climate change and sustainability service experience.

The GCMU was launched at COP27 with joint philanthropic support from the Three Cairns Group and Bloomberg Philanthropies. This initiative was launched to establish market infrastructure to increase quality and transparency while bringing scale to the current carbon market. Carbon markets enable the financing of avoidance and removals activities for institutions and sovereigns to meet net zero goals.

The GCMU will, for the first time, integrate carbon transactions into traditional financial and regulatory systems and draw from leading scientific expertise to ensure climate integrity. The GCMU's accounting ledgers will host auditable records needed to monitor and verify project performance, enabling carbon credits to be transacted as standardized, legally enforceable contracts. Through these efforts, corporate buyers, civil society, and the climate are assured of the integrity and climate impact of carbon transactions.

This initiative will also provide the critical infrastructure for the recording of carbon offset to be compatible with a future schedule of emissions on a corporate's audited financial statements. EY teams' longstanding experience in financial accounting and audit will help the GCMU design ledgers for carbon offset purchases that can withstand financial and regulatory audit requirements. This work will align with current GHG emissions disclosure mandates to provide a cohesive corporate net-zero statement.

The need for and characteristics of the GCMU and its design have been informed by existing carbon market stakeholders, including leading financial institutions and civil society, which have shared goals of safeguarding climate impacts while meaningfully scaling the carbon market. The GCMU will design processes to build upon and work with existing standards and practices in the market.

To continue the work on developing ledgers and operationalizing the initiative, Global Carbon Market Utility welcomes the expertise of and looks forward to engaging with a wide variety of institutions and organizations.

Media Contacts:
Emma Cloyd & Jeremy Fielding
Kekst CNC
[email protected] / [email protected]

About EY:
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Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

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About the Global Carbon Market Utility:
Launched in 2022 at COP27, The Global Carbon Market Utility is a public utility designed to provide the infrastructure necessary to manage a trustworthy carbon market—including data management, contracts, audits, verification, and dispute resolution. This infrastructure will enable financial intermediaries, like banks and insurance companies, to enter the market, provide project financing, and house risk for end-buyers. The GCMU will plug directly into existing financial and regulatory infrastructure helping to fill critical climate funding gaps quickly.

About Three Cairns Group:
Three Cairns Group is a mission-driven investment and philanthropic firm focused on the climate crisis, founded by Lise Strickler and Mark Gallogly. Three Cairns develops and supports cross-sector initiatives to accelerate the clean energy transition and drive transformative, equitable progress through three primary strategies: investments in innovating and scaling climate solutions; philanthropy supporting a pipeline of innovative leaders, projects, and organizations to catalyze equitable climate solutions; and incubation of projects to fill gaps at the intersection of climate, finance, and people and launch organizations that can drive climate action at scale.

SOURCE Global Carbon Market Utility