Our Carbon Markets Report – More than Hot Air
Our new Carbon Markets report More than Hot Air highlights the £1.7bn startup sector driving quality in the voluntary carbon market.
From startups removing CO2 from thin air, to firms using satellites to monitor tree planting, the UK is home to a carbon markets startup ecosystem that has raised over £790m in investment, and today employs over 1,500 people across the country.
But today the growth and climate impact of these startups is being stalled by a lack of Government action, whilst the Carbon Market itself has come under attack.
Carbon markets exist to solve the challenge of pricing in the cost of emissions, and Governments around the world have introduced carbon taxes for the most emitting sectors, such as the UK’s Emissions Trading Scheme. For all emissions outside of these schemes, however, there is the Voluntary Carbon Market.
Here buyers purchase “carbon credits” that equal one tonne of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere. Ensuring that a carbon credit does what it claims to do is critical, and this is where the UK’s world-leading carbon markets startups come in, with firms like Sylvera and Abatable providing much-needed integrity and accountability.
However the market is currently stalling, with confidence dented after years of uncertainty on Government support for the Voluntary Carbon Market. Now is the time for the UK to seize the opportunity to become the home of this vital sector.
Startup Coalition is calling for a long-overdue consultation on the role of the Voluntary Carbon Market in the UK’s net zero transition to be expedited, with this now expected early next year. Alongside this, to ensure that buyers of carbon credits can enter the market, Startup Coalition is also calling for steps to support small businesses to quantify their carbon footprint, alongside steps to increase the use of data in carbon accounting.
Further, to combat greenwashing, Startup Coalition is also calling for a “sandbox” to support firms to work with the regulators on how they market the use of credits, particularly those purchased from high-tech startups.