One step closer for Saudi’s carbon credit exchange: The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC) has hired global ESG commodities exchange platform Xpansiv to provide a tech base for the Public Investment Fund-backed company’s carbon credit exchange, which is set to launch this year, a joint statement read.

What we know: The agreement will see Xpansiv offering buyers and sellers “institutional grade infrastructure” to ensure fast and secure transactions on the planned exchange. Xpansiv is best known for the world’s largest spot carbon credit marketplace CBL. It will offer an automatic, same-day settlement platform and a portfolio management system.

Only “high-integrity” carbon credit projects will be allowed to list: The RVCMC will set “tight guiderails for the exchange to ensure the listing of high-integrity carbon credit projects only.”

SOUND SMART- High-integrity is industry speak for credits that meet strict standards on emission reductions or removals — their data needs to be accurate and verifiable. The adoption of high-integrity credits could be what global carbon credit markets need, Reuters notes, after flaws in offsetting schemes caused carbon credit prices to fall for the first time in at least seven years in September 2024.

What they said: “Developing a carbon credit trading exchange is the next step in RVCMC’s mission to become one of the largest voluntary carbon markets in the world by 2030. Our work with Xpansiv will help us build the infrastructure the market needs for a thriving, transparent and increasingly liquid market, one that can maximize the role of carbon offsets in tackling climate change across the Global South.” RVCMC CEO Riham El Gizy said.

BACKGROUND- RVCMC sold 1.4 mn tons in 2022 in its first auction and another 2.2 mn tons of offsets in 2023.

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