The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC) today launched its voluntary carbon market exchange platform, bringing 23 Saudi and international companies on board on its first day of trading. The launch of the platform is a major milestone in Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become one of the largest voluntary carbon markets in the world by 2030. It aims to scale up the supply and demand of high-quality carbon credits across the Global South and beyond, driving funding to climate projects that require finance, supporting the transition to global net zero emissions.
The platform is designed to meet market requirements for a transparent, scalable and increasingly liquid marketplace, by offering:
Auction market, RFQ and block trade functionality today, followed by spot market and other functions launching in 2025
The tech infrastructure for the exchange platform has been provided by Xpansiv, a leading market infrastructure provider for the global energy transition.
To mark the launch, RVCMC hosted inaugural transactions on the exchange platform, auctioning over 2.5 million tonnes of high-quality carbon credits. The 23 Saudi and international businesses participating in the platform launch are as follows:
The core basket auction clearing price was 37.5 SAR per tonne of carbon credits.
RVCMC’s due diligence aims to ensure the mix of carbon credits offered in the auction meet international high integrity standards. The basket of credits connected buyers with 17 climate projects from across the world, over three quarters of which originated from countries in the Global South, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Vietnam.
In line with current international standard setters’ guidelines, 20 percent of this year’s auction baskets were removal credits, including some premium durable removal credits. Credits being sold today originated from diverse climate projects, including:
To deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement and achieve global net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets, emerging markets and developing countries require USD 2.4 trillion of investment in climate action per year by 20301. The global voluntary carbon market, which is expected to grow to USD 100 billion by 20302, can play a vital role in helping to bridge the climate finance gap, which is among the COP29 priorities.
Speaking in Baku, Riham ElGizy, RVCMC’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “The message coming into COP is clear: To accelerate global decarbonization we must unlock financial flows to critical climate projects on an enormous scale. High integrity voluntary carbon markets can play an important role in bridging the climate finance gap this decade. But institutional grade infrastructure must be put in place to help buyers and sellers scale up private sector participation and achieve the market’s potential.
The launch today of RVCMC’s exchange platform, taking place with inaugural auctions of high-quality carbon credits, are an important step in our journey to become one of the largest voluntary carbon markets in the world by 2030. One that funds climate action projects across the world to reduce and remove carbon emissions on a large scale. From projects spanning Asia to Latin America, helping to restore forests and protect biodiversity, as well as supporting carbon storage technology in construction materials or biochar production, we are working with Saudi Arabian and international businesses to move from discussion to action on climate finance in line with the COP29 agenda.”
RVCMC was established by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Saudi Tadawul Group (STG) in 2022 to offer guidance and resourcing to support businesses and industry in the MENA region as they play their part in the global transition to net zero, helping to ensure the MENA region is at the forefront of climate action and that Saudi Arabia is a leading force in solving the climate challenge. Its mission is to establish a thriving voluntary carbon market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and beyond. The company’s two prior record-breaking voluntary carbon credit auctions, the first in Riyadh and the second in Nairobi, sold over 3.6 million tonnes, driving demand in the region. RVCMC supports PIF’s ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. PIF is driving the investment and innovation required to address the impact of climate change and support Saudi Arabia’s efforts to achieve net zero by 2060.
