Xpansiv, the premier market-infrastructure platform for environmental commodities, announced first trades of the Sustainable Development Global Emissions Offset^™ (SD-GEO^™) on Xpansiv market CBL. Participants supporting the contract include South Pole, BMO, Carbon Growth Partners, Hartree Partners, EKI Energy Services Limited, and ICAP Energy LTD. First day volume totaled 210,000 mtCO2e, an all-time high for a product launch, with prices ranging between $10.50 and $11.00.

Announced earlier this month, the SD-GEO contract provides a benchmark for market participants to transact high-quality carbon offsets from projects with measurable social impact; the SD-GEO allows for delivery of cookstove projects with a minimum of five Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the Verra or Gold Standard registries.

“Directing finance to projects that support the growth of clean cooking is good for people, communities, and the planet—meaning that people around the world will live longer, healthier lives while reducing emissions.” https://t.co/TSZ8wkMUeT

— Xpansiv (@Xpansiv) December 6, 2022

“Beyond net-zero goals, corporates are increasingly seeking offset projects with community co-benefits,” said Russell Karas, Xpansiv Head of Carbon Market Development. “Clean cookstoves not only mitigate emissions, but they also bring improvements to the developing world—a global mandate on the heels of COP27.”

“Approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions from forest degradation come from people harvesting forests for fuel,” said Gold Standard CEO Margaret Kim. “And exposure to smoke from cooking fires causes an estimated 3.2 million deaths every year. Directing finance to projects that support the growth of clean cooking is good for people, communities, and the planet—meaning that people around the world will live longer, healthier lives while reducing emissions.”

Eligible projects are carefully vetted under the CBL Standard Instruments Program that contains the Global Emissions Offset^™ (GEO^®), the first in this series developed by Xpansiv, as well as the Nature-Based Global Emissions Offset^™ (N-GEO^®), “widely seen as the frontrunner to become the VCM’s biggest price benchmark,” according to Quantum Commodity Intelligence.

“As the international carbon market continues to mature, this innovative contract will bring transparency and price certainty to a vital subset of the offset market,” said Xpansiv Chief Commercial Officer Ben Stuart. “We provide the liquidity and transparency the market requires to ensure wide-scale investment in projects that offer direct, measurable solutions to the climate crisis.”

“The launch and first trade of the SD-GEO demonstrate the ability of the voluntary carbon market to advance both climate mitigation and sustainable development at the same time,” said Verra CEO David Antonioli. “Verra is committed to supporting the market by ensuring the quality and integrity of the units it issues and ensuring that projects generating sustainable development benefits can showcase those impacts.”

Source: Xpansiv