Project-based carbon credit markets: Overview, issues, and future directions

Brookings | 2026-05-24 | energy

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English Summary

While carbon credit markets hold significant potential for mobilizing private finance toward global climate mitigation, the analysis finds they are currently hampered by structural issues, including lack of transparency and doubts regarding the additionality of credits. To overcome these flaws, the markets require robust development and regulation, necessitating new oversight bodies and stricter integrity standards. Policy-wise, the report stresses that continued government support is crucial; governments are uniquely positioned to enforce integrity guardrails, clarify acceptable claims, and align both voluntary and compliance markets with broader climate objectives, such as those under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

中文摘要

儘管碳信用市場在動員私人資金推動全球氣候減緩方面具有巨大潛力，但本分析指出，這些市場目前受到結構性問題的阻礙，包括缺乏透明度以及對信用額外性（additionality）的質疑。為克服這些缺陷，市場需要健全的發展與監管，這要求設立新的監管機構並制定更嚴格的完整性標準。在政策層面，報告強調持續的政府支持至關重要；政府在執行完整性護欄、釐清可接受的聲稱，以及將自願性市場和合規市場與更廣泛的氣候目標（例如《巴黎協定》第六條）接軌方面，具有獨特的定位。

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