Opinion: It’s Time for Multinationals to Step Up in the Carbon Markets

Twenty years ago, the Kyoto Protocol set out a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) by which finance could be steered toward clean development projects by trading carbon credits earned through reducing emissions. Two decades on, we are still not making full use of our options.

Like many in the green finance space, I welcomed the announcement by COP26 that the Paris Agreement “rulebook” on carbon markets had been approved. The lack of consensus had been holding back vital funding to carbon projects, and delaying the urgent mission of keeping global warming below 1.5℃.