Energy Transition, Carbon, Emissions
June 02, 2025
Platts updates Voluntary Carbon Market assessment standards, volume specifications
Platts, part of S&P Commodity Insights, has updated several aspects of its voluntary carbon market (VCM) assessment specifications, with effect from June 2, 2025.
These changes reflect the evolution of the voluntary carbon markets, including greater recognition of new standards, as appropriate for different credit/project types, as well as changes in typical spot market volumes.
This follows a proposal note published on April 4, available here(opens in a new tab), and a decision note published on May 5, available here(opens in a new tab).
Platts has updated specifications for its VCM assessments as follows:
| Assessment | Symbol | Previous volume specification | New volume specification s (effective June 2) |
| Blue Carbon Current Year | AJLUB00 | 5,000-50,000 mtCO2e | 1,000 – 50,000 mtCO2e |
| Blue Carbon Yr01 | AKLUB00 | 5,000-50,000 mtCO2e | 1,000 – 50,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Current Year | ANBAA00 | 20,000-100,000 mtCO2e | 5,000 – 50,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Yr01 | ANBAB00 | 20,000-100,000 mtCO2e | 5,000 – 50,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 1 Spread | APNBE00 | 20,000-100,000 mtCO2e | 5,000 – 50,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 2 Spread | APNBD00 | 20,000-100,000 mtCO2e | 5,000 – 50,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 3 Spread | APNBC00 | 20,000-100 ,000 m tCO2e | 5,000 – 50,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 4 Spread | APNBB00 | 20,000-100,000 mtCO2e | 5,000 – 50,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 5 Spread | APNBA00 | 20,000-100,000 mtCO2e | 5,000 – 50,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Renewable Energy Current Year | CNRED00 | 50,000-150,000 mtCO2e | 20,000-100,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Renewable Energy Yr01 | CNRED10 | 50,000-150,0 00 mtCO2e | 20,000-100,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Tech Carbon Capture Current Year | ATCCA00 | 5,000-50,000 mtCO2e | 500 - 5 ,000 mtCO2e |
| Platts Tech Carbon Capture Yr01 | ATCCB00 | 5,000-50,000 mtCO2e | 500 - 5 ,000 mtCO2e |
Platts originally proposed to change the maximum volume for the Platts Tech Carbon Capture assessments to 30,000 mtCO2e, but lowered it to 5,000 mtCO2e in response to market feedback following the initial proposal.
These changes also affect the currency conversions for each assessment as well as all associated monthly averages.
Standards
Previously, Platts VCM price assessments reflected projects certified by Gold Standard (GS), Climate Action Reserve (CAR), Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), the American Carbon Registry, and Puro Earth. From June 2, Platts has taken a more tailored approach, with specific standards considered for some of its individual assessments, to better reflect the market.
Platts has updated its specifications for VCM standards as follows:
| Assessment | Symbol | New standard specification (effective June 2) |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Current Year | ANBAA00 | VCS, Biocarbon, Cercarbono |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Yr01 | ANBAB00 | VCS, Biocarbon, Cercarbono |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 1 Spread | APNBE00 | VCS, Biocarbon, Cercarbono |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 2 Spread | APNBD00 | VCS, Biocarbon, Cercarbono |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 3 Spread | APNBC00 | VCS, Biocarbon, Cercarbono |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 4 Spread | APNBB00 | VCS, Biocarbon, Cercarbono |
| Platts Nature-Based Avoidance Vintage Current Year - 5 Spread | APNBA00 | VCS, Biocarbon, Cercarbono |
| Platts Renewable Energy Current Year | CNRED00 | GS, VCS, GCC |
| Platts Renewable Energy Yr01 | CNRED10 | GS, VCS, GCC |
In addition to the above, following feedback on the need to further define specifications of its Tech Carbon Capture assessments, Platts has made the following additional changes to define the relevant standards for this segment:
Platts Tech Carbon Capture Current Year | ATCCA00 | Puro.Earth , Isometric, CSI |
| Platts Tech Carbon Capture Yr01 | ATCCB00 | Puro.Earth , Isometric, CSI |
These updates include the currency conversions for each assessment as well as all associated monthly averages.
Platts Voluntary Carbon Credit price assessments reflect the most competitive, most internationally fungible credits meeting Platts specifications. Platts considers bids, offers and transactions for credits that differ from the reference base, but may normalize these to the value of the reference base for assessment purposes.
In addition, Platts has renamed some of its VCM price assessments, effective June 2, 2025. This affects several of the assessments outlined above, details of which are available here.
The assessments appear in Carbon Markets Daily, and on the fixed pages CMA2001, ETA2001, CMA2002, ETA2002, CMA2003, ETA2003, CMA2004, ETA2004, CMA2005, ETA2005, CMA2006, ETA2006, CMA2007, ETA2007, CMA2008, ETA2008, CMA2009, ETA2009, CMA2011, ETA2011.
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