Voluntary Carbon Markets: Potential, Pitfalls, and the Path Forward

This guide can help you develop a grounded understanding of the controversial topic of carbon credits and their role in mitigating the climate crisis. Developed by the Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG), an independent NGO whose members include leading earth system scientists such as Johan Rockstrom and Mark Maslin, the report examines the current state of Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs), exploring how carbon credits are used and why they have suffered a loss of confidence. The report is then divided into five numbered sections: the first, “Market basics," explains how VCMs work and their theoretical power to shift money directly to where it is most needed, and sections two through five break down the specific issues and challenges with VCMs. The final section also provides recommendations for ensuring that scientific rigour and transparency are built into VCMs so that their potential can be realised in the future. This resource offers a clear, comprehensive, and balanced view of carbon credit usage that will benefit a broad range of sustainability professionals, and especially those involved in purchasing carbon credits or developing carbon removal projects.