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EEX to launch range of voluntary carbon market products

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - Deutsche Boerse's 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. (Reporting By Susanna Twidale; Editing by Mark Porter)