When H.R.H. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman took center stage at FII9 in Riyadh last October, he introduced the fourth pillar of The Saudi Energy Buffet: the carbon market. He referred to the progress the Kingdom has made in advancing the carbon ecosystem with the established VCM in place and more to come with this being an important aspect of Saudi Arabia’s energy transition strategy, a mechanism that unlocks value in the short term, while driving meaningful and sustainable change over the long term.
For us at VCM, 2025 has truly been about nurturing this dual engine of growth for the Kingdom:
unlocking capital for carbon projects locally and globally, while simultaneously enabling the reduction or avoidance of emissions. Corporate Saudi Arabia has been a key driving force behind the momentum we witnessed throughout the year.
With that, here is a recap of three developments at VCM during 2025 that you may have missed.
1. Carbon, digitised
We began 2025 building on the launch of the region’s largest digital trading platform for carbon credits in November 2024. Since its launch, more than 9 million carbon credits have been transacted on the platform, positioning VCM as the largest carbon market in the region and among the top three globally with over 13 million carbon credits transacted on our exchange since the inception, surpassing over 350mllion SAR in their value.
This digital trading capability is not only a testament to the Kingdom’s ambition to develop a robust and resilient carbon market, but also reflects VCM’s unique role as the only regulated digital trading exchange for carbon credits. As only the second exchange in the Kingdom after our shareholder, Saudi Tadawul Group, the platform sets the foundation for deeper markets, greater liquidity, and faster transactions for many years to come.
2. Local content, global context
2025 also marked a major turning point for the development of Saudi Arabia’s local carbon credit ecosystem. VCM announced its first advisory engagement with Al Qaryan Group in the Eastern Province, supporting the development of a pathway to issue carbon credits from e-waste recycling and management projects.
Beyond being VCM’s first advisory project, this engagement reinforced our broader approach: unlocking over 25 Saudi-based carbon credit projects that deliver emissions reductions, avoidance, or removals from within the Kingdom.
We are genuinely excited — and not far — from seeing the first Saudi-issued, certified carbon credits traded on our platform. This represents the next chapter of the “beauty shop” that H.R.H. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman so powerfully described, highlighting the Kingdom’s leadership in shaping the future of energy, for Saudi Arabia, and for the world.
3. From the Kingdom, for the world
From the very beginning, the vision for VCM — announced by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — was clear:
“…to drive climate action and improve livelihoods in the Global South through a high-integrity voluntary carbon market. Led from Saudi Arabia, we will channel funds toward climate action in the Middle East, Africa, and beyond.”
Nowhere was this vision more evident than in 2025.
From Tokyo to Tunis, Riyadh to Rio, and everywhere in between, VCM welcomed partners, collaborators, and market participants who helped drive total traded volumes to over 13 million carbon credits.
To put this into perspective, this equates to more than 10,000 credits traded daily through VCM since its inception just over three years ago. Moving from zero carbon credits in the Kingdom at the start of our journey to more than 10 million today is only possible because of the strength of our ecosystem, something we are deeply proud of and committed to continuing to build in the year ahead.
Our partnership with Enowa for 30million carbon credits, the onboarding of multiple new partners at FII in Riyadh, the welcoming of our first Japanese and other Asian partners at the FII Priority Summit in Tokyo, and our collaboration with the Arab Federation of Capital Markets in Tunis — among many others throughout 2025— have significantly accelerated our journey toward unlocking long-term value.
2025 was a record-breaking year for VCM in many respects. Yet, the most exciting part is that
we are only just getting started, gaining momentum, scale, and confidence as we move steadily
toward the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives and long-term decarbonization ambitions.
