Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Carbonplace raises $46m as it becomes independent

Post Thumbnail

Carbon credit transaction network Carbonplace has announced that it has raised $45 million in a strategic round of investment, as well as officially spinning out and becoming independent.

  • Carbonplace has become an independent company based in London, led by new CEO Scott Eaton. 
  • $45 million in funding was received from Carbonplace’s nine founder banks: BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest, Standard Chartered, SMBC and UBS. 
  • Carbonplace intends to leverage the capital injection to scale the platform, grow the team and expand services to additional banks and carbon market participants, including registries and marketplaces.  

Carbonplace, which has been likened to the SWIFT of the carbon markets, is expected to transform how carbon credits are bought and sold by allowing simultaneous settlement of carbon credits, with immediate transfer of ownership upon payment. This will ensure robust reporting and traceability during the entire carbon credit transfer process.

Some early pilot trades have already been made with a range of buyers, sellers, registries, and exchanges, including global payments technology company Visa, and Singapore-based marketplace Climate Impact X.   Eventually the network will be available to clients of any financial institutions wanting to deliver secure and transparent access to the carbon markets.

Scott Eaton: “With Carbonplace, we are transforming the way that carbon credits are bought, distributed, held and retired. I am excited to take this company to the next level of its evolution, and to help unlock its massive potential to drive significant economic and social value by opening the carbon markets up to the world.”

Financial commitment recognises growth potential

The transaction network secured the seed funding from the financial institutions which founded the fintech: BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest, Standard Chartered, SMBC and UBS. Through the investment, each bank shares equal equity ownership in the new company which will be headquartered in London. The full open platform is expected to launch later in 2023.

The backing banks and financial institutions account for over $9 trillion worth of global assets. While the $45 million investment is minisclue in comparison, it represents a commitment to achieving Carbonplace’s vision of accelerating corporate climate action by providing transparent, secure and accessible carbon markets.  And, while the voluntary carbon markets remain relatively small at circa $2 billion, the potential for growth in both the voluntary and compliance markets is immense.

The new company intends to leverage this investment to scale the platform and its team to expand services to a wider client base of financial institutions and accelerate partnerships with additional carbon market participants, including registries and marketplaces around the world.

Robert Begbie, CEO, NatWest Markets: “Carbonplace creates an efficient and secure network for carbon credit transactions. According to McKinsey, global demand for voluntary carbon credits is likely to increase by a factor of 15 in the next seven years. To meet that demand, Carbonplace is delivering a reliable, secure and scalable technology that will form a crucial part of the infrastructure for carbon markets to drive climate action at scale.”

How does Carbonplace work?

Building on its user banks’ highly regulated and standardised compliance frameworks, Carbonplace ensures transparent and simple customer-to-customer transactions by enabling frictionless counterparty due diligence and onboarding.

That means that its secure distribution network allows for the efficient, secure, and traceable settlement of carbon credit transactions – including the retirement of credits within minutes.

The company has put in place The Carbonplace Rulebook to ensure that all members of the platform adhere to a single set of prudential rules, removing the need for bilateral contracts between buyers and sellers. The standardised contract will make it possible to retire carbon credits within minutes, reducing the legal burden of individually negotiated transactions.

The sharing of information in real-time means traceable and streamlined settlement of carbon credit transactions, with the retirement of credits within minutes. Digital wallets then enable owners to reliably demonstrate ownership to the market, reducing the risks of double counting and simplifying reporting.

Verification of credits plays a key role in building trust

The voluntary carbon markets are still reeling from the scandal arising from the impact (or lack thereof) of some REDD+ carbon offsets certified by Verra. The market is in serious need of a new approach to understanding the integrity and impact of such credits.

When asked about what role Carbonplace could play in such a process, a company spokesperson said: “Carbonplace will only be partnering with registries, exchanges, and marketplaces that adhere to internationally- recognized standards and eventually those adhering to the Integrity Council’s Core Carbon Principles. These are the only credits that will be accepted on the platform. As Carbonplace enables customers to learn all the details about the credit they are buying, and to compare it with other credits, this brings transparency to the market.”

Carbonplace will be led by new chief executive Scott Eaton. Eaton, who has held a number of senior leadership roles in financial technology and capital markets, is joining from capital markets fintech Nivaura, where he served as CEO.

Prior to Nivaura, he was CEO of London based fintech company Algomi from 2018 until its sale to BGC in 2020. From 2015-2018, Scott was COO at fixed income trading platform provider MarketAxess. Prior to MarketAxess, Eaton held various senior roles at ABN Amro, Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank, and at UniCredit where he was global head of emerging markets trading.

More from SG Voice

Latest Posts