Hartree, Gazprom in first CBL-listed nature-based carbon offset trade

Commodity trader Hartree Partners and Russian gas company Gazprom have carried out a first trade in a CBL Markets-listed nature-based carbon offset product, broker Evolution Markets said April 16.

The Nature-based Global Emissions Offset (N-GEO) futures contact is linked to projects in forestry, agriculture and other land use, with the trade involving 10,000 N-GEOs for immediate delivery.

"We very much welcome the introduction of this new standardized benchmark contract, which will serve an important role as voluntary markets scale up over the next few years," said Julia Elmgren, head of environmental products at Gazprom Marketing & Trading.

The trade was done at $5.00/mt CO2, Evolution Markets executive managing director Evan Ard told S&P Global Platts.

Nature-based N-GEOs were trading at a premium to CBL Markets Global Emissions Offsets, which were around $2.10-$2.15/mt CO2 for spot delivery, he said.

"In general, AFOLU [agriculture, forestry and other land use] plus CCB [climate, community and biodiversity] projects have been trading in the $4-$6 range," he said.

The N-GEO calls for additional CCB project accreditation, supporting development of local communities and biodiversity.

Eligible N-GEO projects are vetted under the CBL Standard Instruments Program.

"While the overall carbon offset market is growing rapidly, we are seeing particular increased demand from our corporate clients for nature-based solutions," Evolution Markets CEO Andrew Ertel said.