Carbon buyers carry on despite political shifts

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🗞️ Driving the news: Corporate buyers are increasingly prioritising high-quality carbon removals over traditional offsets, despite political uncertainty in the U.S., according to a new report by Patch
• More companies retired carbon credits in the five months following the 2024 U.S. election than during the same period a year earlier, signalling sustained commitment to long-term climate goals, irrespective of political leadership

🔭 The context: Carbon credit strategies are evolving in response to new guidance from standard setters like SBTi and VCMI, which discourage “carbon neutral” claims based on offsets
• Instead, companies are focusing on credits as contributions to climate mitigation
• While retirement volumes dipped, overall buyer activity and interest in future-secured carbon offtake agreements have increased, particularly for carbon removal projects such as biochar, reforestation, and afforestation

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: This shift reflects a maturing market where environmental integrity, not branding, drives credit purchases
• Carbon removal — essential for net-zero alignment — is gaining traction, but supply remains limited, highlighting the need to scale high-quality projects
• Buyer reliance on independent ratings like BeZero and Sylvera, and labels such as the Core Carbon Principles, signals growing demand for transparency and credibility in voluntary carbon markets

⏭️ What's next: With nearly half of recent purchase requests focused solely on carbon removals, demand is expected to outpace supply unless project development accelerates
• Companies are signing offtake agreements to lock in future access, and this proactive approach could set new industry norms
• The trend also suggests increasing pressure on developers to meet stringent quality standards and pricing benchmarks

💬 One quote: “There is no credible path to net zero without carbon removal,” — Brennan Spellacy, CEO of Patch

📈 One stat: 80% of buyers on the Patch platform sought projects rated BBB+ or higher by BeZero or Tier 2 and above by Sylvera in the past five months

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