The Taskforce on Scaling the Voluntary Carbon Market (TSVCM), launched in September 2020, is a private sector-led initiative working to scale an effective, efficient and functioning voluntary carbon market to help meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The Taskforce was initiated by Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance Advisor to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for COP26. Mark Carney explains that “the carbon offset market has become imperative to help achieve net-zero emissions’ and “while ‘complex,’ will be ‘a very major component’ of the climate solution”. During a recent panel discussion hosted by the Institute of International Finance, Carney said the market — currently at about US$300 million — should be “measured in the tens of billions of dollars per annum.”
The Taksforce is chaired by Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank has more than 40 members including, BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Unilever NV. The Taskforce and its advisors estimates the market needs to grow by between 15 and 160 times in order to meet the Paris Agreement.
In November 2020 the Taskforce called for feedback from stakeholders on the drafting of a set of practical recommendations to develop a well-functioning voluntary carbon market. RBI gave its views, saying that offsetting for tropical forest conservation needs to be prioritised as it is extremely urgent.
