EEX to launch range of voluntary carbon market products

European Energy Exchange AG

24/05/2022 16:37

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - Deutsche Boerse's  DB1Gn.DE 
commodity exchange EEX will launch a range of voluntary carbon
offset products to help bring transparency to the market, it
said on Tuesday.
    Many global companies such as oil majors Shell and BP have
pledged to reach net zero emissions but will need to buy or
generate carbon credits to offset the emissions they are unable
to cut from their operations.
    Carbon credits can be generated from a range of projects
such as planting trees or switching to less-polluting fuels, and
are currently traded in a small but growing market, often on a
project-by-Project basis. 
    “While companies first-and-foremost need to reduce their own
emissions, carbon offsets are a legitimate tool, especially for
hard-to-abate emissions,”  EEX CEO Peter Reitz said in a
statement.
    “In this context, robust, trustworthy and secure Voluntary
Carbon Markets are instrumental to generate financial
investments which are critically needed for a net-zero future,”
he said.
   EEX said the contracts would be offered first, on June 17,
through its North American platform, Nodal Exchange, and later
in 2022 on its European platform.  
    Its Verified Emission Reduction (VER) CORSIA eligible
product meets standards set under the global airline industry
carbon offsetting scheme called CORISA.
    There will also be contracts for VER offsets from
nature-based solutions such as those generated by planting trees
or preserving forests and a Global Emission Reduction (GER)
product representing a basket of products from the voluntary
carbon market. 
    EEX will also launch a contract focused on carbon removals
which use technology to remove and store emissions from the
atmosphere. 
    EEX joins exchanges CME and ICE which have already launched
voluntary carbon market products.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2O31CW  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2X131S

 (Reporting By Susanna Twidale; Editing by Mark Porter)
 ((susanna.twidale@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 5424753;))