Riyadh: The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC) has 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. According to Saudi Press Agency, the platform 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, and supporting the transition to global net zero emissions. The platform is designed to meet market demands for a transparent, scalable, and increasingly liquid marketplace. It provides an institutional-grade infrastructure to facilitate fast and secure transactions and offers price and data discovery for carbon credit projects, which is crucial for global market growth and establishing a price signal for projects originating from MENA regions. The pla tform supports open market connectivity by integrating with leading global registries and includes specialized infrastructure that enables trade in carbon credits compatible with Islamic finance. Current features include auction markets, RFQ, and block trade functionalities, with plans to introduce a spot market and additional functions by 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 include prominent names such as Alpha Star, Aramco Trading Company, Eastern Province Cement Company, Energroup Limited, Flynas, and several others. The core basket auction clearing price was SAR37.5 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% 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 landfill gas projects from the Global South, an indigenous forest reforestation project in Ethiopia, and a construction technology project from the United States. These initiatives aim to capture and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions while providing additional benefits such as soil erosion mitigation and community income support. To deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement and achieve global net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets, emerging markets and developing c ountries require USD 2.4 trillion of investment in climate action per year by 2030. The global voluntary carbon market, which is expected to grow to USD 100 billion by 2030, can play a vital role in helping to bridge the climate finance gap, which is among the COP29 priorities. Founded by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Saudi Tadawul Group (STG) in 2022, RVCMC provides guidance and resources to support businesses and industries in the MENA region in their role in the global transition to net zero. The initiative aims to position the MENA region at the forefront of climate action, with Saudi Arabia as a leading force in addressing the climate challenge. The company's prior record-breaking voluntary carbon credit auctions, held in Riyadh and Nairobi, sold over 3.6 million tonnes, driving demand in the region. RVCMC supports PIF's ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, contributing to Saudi Arabia's wider goal of achieving net zero by 2060.
Wednesday, April 22, 2026