The UN has outlined its opposition to companies using credits to cancel out their carbon dioxide footprint, putting it on a collision course with big oil and technology groups. A draft document seen by the Financial Times and drawn up by a task force convened by UN secretary-general António Guterres says groups should not use carbon credits to offset emissions outside of state-regulated schemes.
Swartz, also a board member at industry body the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, said many of these ecosystems could be “at risk today of failing if they don’t get the sufficient level of climate finance”. Industry figures expect the carbon credit market to grow. Boston Consulting Group in partnership with Shell last year published an estimate that carbon trading could rise to between $10bn and $40bn a year by the end of the decade.