Pricing carbon is an essential driver of the energy transition, providing a clear financial incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Platts Carbon Price Explorer offers monthly insight on a great variety of carbon values across compliance and voluntary markets.
Voluntary Markets: The Voluntary Carbon Market, or VCM, offers companies a range of carbon credits that reduce, remove or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. While regulated carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems target specific sectors, the VCM is open to any commercial entity that has voluntarily chosen to decarbonize.
Compliance Markets: Governments use compliance trading mechanisms and carbon taxes to target specific sectors and company emissions. These regulated markets place a limit on participant emissions and can evolve over time with tighter limits, new sector inclusions and, in the case of the European Union, related charges on imports.
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