Washington, D.C. — FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken made the following statement following FIA’s participation in a public consultation led by the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM).
“Markets need to be part of the solution to addressing global climate change, and FIA is committed to working with the public and private sector to help foster a robust and transparent voluntary carbon market,” said FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken. “The private sector-led Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets should be commended for bringing together stakeholders from across the globe to provide recommendations and solicit feedback about how best to scale an effective and efficient voluntary carbon market -- a market that will help lead a global transition to a more sustainable economy.”
FIA’s response to the taskforce consultation was based on feedback from members representing various sectors of the cleared derivatives industry. Highlights include:
- Supporting the introduction of core carbon spot and futures contracts - FIA commented in support of the introduction of core carbon spot and futures contracts and designing the contracts to be homogeneous across markets. Moving away from less transparent over-the-counter markets to more exchange-traded spot and futures markets will assist with price formation and transparency, which in turn should increase liquidity.
- Supporting more standardized reference contracts – FIA agrees with the vision of the TSVCM and the various benefits that could be achieved through standardized core carbon reference contracts. Standardized contracts will improve primary and secondary market liquidity and should be traded in parallel with contracts that allow for physical delivery.
About the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets:
The Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets is a private sector-led initiative working to scale an effective, efficient and functioning voluntary carbon market to help meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The Taskforce was initiated by Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance Advisor to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for COP26, is chaired by Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive, Standard Chartered and sponsored by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) under the leadership of IIF President and CEO, Tim Adams. Annette Nazareth, a partner at Davis Polk and former Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, serves as Operating Lead for the Taskforce, and McKinsey & Company provides knowledge and advisory support. The Taskforce’s participants represent the financial sector, market infrastructure providers and buyers and suppliers of carbon offsets.
On 10 November, the Taskforce published a public Consultation Document, providing an opportunity for stakeholders across the carbon markets value-chain to submit input on the Taskforce’s recommended blueprint to build a fully functional voluntary carbon market.
