We understand that the supply-side of the market has faced some criticism recently. Some of it justifiable. Much of it not. There have been huge efforts to improve transparency and integrity across the board – so you can be confident that your investments are going directly to climate solutions that work.

Investments via the VCM go into approved, registered and monitored projects that are required to deliver and report against highly stringent carbon criteria.

Buyers (your CSO) can find quality and value in abundance in the market.
Projects on the VCM not only remove carbon, or avoid the destruction of our best carbon sinks (tropical forests), they also have many co-benefits – they restore ecosystems, create jobs, protect biodiversity, support Global South communities (the hardest hit by climate change), accelerate climate adaptation and resilience, and help scale-up technologies with the potential to draw-down gigatons of carbon in the near future.

There is very clear advice on best practice for all companies in order to ensure that what you (and your CSO) are investing in is high-integrity. And if you want to know more about integrity in the market, see these two organisations below.

The Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative
The Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets

We’d prefer to call it an investment, not a ‘cost’ – but yes, it’s an additional budget line you will need to find. Right now, it’s voluntary in many industries. But some sectors have a mandatory levy on their carbon emissions, and some would like to see it mandatory for all businesses. A universal price put on carbon emissions. So it’s a budget item that you should be planning for anyway.

Why do it?
Firstly, because it’s the right thing to do. It’s what many customers, consumers and investors (not to mention your employees) expect of you as a business – to reduce your carbon footprint as a business while also taking action on (accounting for) the emissions you create today. Taking responsibility for the harmful pollution your business is creating right now – well, that is just the right thing to do. If you pollute (and we all do), you should pay.

But secondly, it’s the commercially smart thing to do. See ‘The Business Case’ section for the ROI you should be looking to gain from these investments. It’s a strong case.

And finally – do bear in mind that there is an enormous (and a direct) cost to your business in doing nothing. Failing to act on climate change is impacting businesses directly right now. Reputational harm, supply chain risks, talent retention, investor rebellion, uninsurable assets … the list is long.

It’s easier to see it on a macro level – the global cost of climate change damage is estimated to be between $1.7 trillion and $3.1 trillion per year by 2050. This includes the cost of damage to infrastructure, property, agriculture, and human health.

Over the past 20 years, extreme weather events globally, like hurricanes, floods and heat waves, have cost an estimated $2.8 trillion.

Record-breaking heat waves, severe floods and acute wildfires, exacerbated by climate change, carry a colossal price tag: an approximately 19% reduction in global income over just the next 26 years.

Carbon markets help to channel financial resources to support emissions reduction or removal activities globally, which would otherwise not be implemented due to factors such as insufficient policy and economic incentives.

This accelerates climate action and advances global climate ambition, by unlocking cost-effective mitigation activities to realise the Paris Agreement goal.

You’d be in good company. Some of the world’s most valuable brands, some of the world’s leading companies are all active in the VCM. They get it. So should you.

Each company sets their own voluntary carbon price, and makes their decisions on what to invest in on different criteria. There are some trends:

Tech companies are investing heavily in engineered carbon removal technology, understanding that this industry is set to take off.

Those in hard-to-abate sectors are taking strides to invest in carbon capture and storage technologies.

Those in consumer goods, food and agriculture are investing in protecting tropical forests to ensure deforestation-free commodity supply-chains.

Furthermore, responsible companies with a prominent reputation for leadership are investing in projects around the world which protect precious ecosystems and provide jobs.

As you rapidly reduce the carbon and GHG’s your company is emitting, your investments should theoretically decline. Over that period, you can build a balanced portfolio of relevant investments that can enhance the ROI you get from reducing and investing simultaneously.

Join these companies in taking action. And you too can demonstrate good corporate climate leadership.

The world needs stringent guidelines for how companies can reduce their carbon emissions – and it needs monitored targets that businesses can set and adhere to. If your company is setting reduction targets and following a science-based programme to achieve these reductions, this is great (but it’s also hard – only 7% of companies are on-track to hit those targets).

Most of the science-based targets programmes recommend that all companies take action ‘above and beyond’ their value chain – to invest in climate solutions as they simultaneously transition to net-zero.

Why? Because progress on corporate reductions is hard and slow, and we need all the solutions right now. This is an emergency, and we do not have time to wait. Everything, everywhere – all at once.

A company may well be on a journey to becoming a low-carbon, low-emitting, net zero business – but what about emissions today? The VCM provides a market mechanic for you to help accelerate climate solutions that work at scale above and beyond your business – enabling your business to account for every tonne emitted today, tomorrow, next year – even as you rapidly decarbonize.

Speak to your CSO*.

Why do we say that? Because we recognise that the CEO / CFO / COO / CMO / Chair / NED is not immersed in the detail of the market in the same way as the CSO is. It is literally their job. To reduce (your company’s carbon emissions), and simultaneously invest (in climate solutions via the VCM).

We expect the C-suite to set the strategic direction, to bless and enforce the ‘Reduce and Invest’ principle. And the CSO to implement that.

We are not linking here to supply-side brokers, intermediaries, sellers, project owners or a marketplace website. The CSO will know what to do, where to go, who to speak to. And it’s not the purpose of this campaign to feather the nest of any individual brokerage. We are producing this because the planet needs corporate action to speed-up, step-up and scale-up – governments and policymakers will not get us there (to within a safe limit of 1.5 degrees) – it needs the business community and the economy to act now. And that just isn’t happening – for lots of irrelevant reasons.

So our call-to-action is to internalise the mantra ‘Reduce & Invest’ and make it a Boardroom item to implement as a strategic principle. Today.

* If you don’t have a CSO, go hire one. Companies with a CSO have completed 1.4x more climate actions than those without – and have reaped the rewards and returns accordingly.