RVCMC launches voluntary carbon market exchange platform

The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC) has launched its voluntary carbon market exchange platform, bringing 22 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:

• Institutional grade infrastructure, to enable fast and secure transactions
• Price and data discovery for carbon credit projects, key to growing the market globally and providing a price signal on projects from MENA regions
• Open market connectivity, integrated with leading global registries
• Scope to develop specialized infrastructure for trade in carbon credits to enable Islamic Finance
• Auction market, RFQ and block trade functionality today, followed by spot market and other functions launching in 2025

To mark the launch, RVCMC is hosting inaugural transactions on the exchange platform, auctioning over 2.5 million tonnes of high-quality carbon credits. The 22 Saudi and international businesses participating in the platform launch are as follows:

1. Alpha Star
2. Aramco Trading Company
3. Eastern Province Cement Company
4. Energroup Limited
5. flynas
6. Gulf International Bank (GIB)
7. Golf Saudi
8. International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC)
9. Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company Luberef
10. Ma’aden
11. PIF
12. Red Sea Global (RSG)
13. SAB
14. Sabic
15. Saudi Top Plastic Factory
16. SCB Environmental Markets SA
17. Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)
18. SNB
19. Socar
20. Valitera
21. Yamama Cement Company
22. Yanbu Cement Company

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 connects buyers with 17 climate projects from across the world, over three quarters of which originated from countries across 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 include removal credits, including some premium durable removal credits. Credits being sold today originate from diverse climate projects, including:

• From across the Global South: Landfill Gas projects, capturing methane which otherwise would be released into the atmosphere from waste;
• From Ethiopia: An indigenous forest reforestation project in the Humbo region, which also aims to mitigate soil erosion and conserve water resources while providing income benefits to local communities;
• From the United States: A construction technology project, aiming to capture, inject and embed carbon dioxide into fresh concrete;

To deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement and achieve global net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets, emerging markets and developing countries require US$2.4 trillion of investment in climate action per year by 2030. The global voluntary carbon market, which is expected to grow to US$100 billion by 2030, 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 CEO, said, “The message coming into COP is clear: To accelerate global decarbonisation 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.”

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 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.