Blue Carbon – First Listing and Trades via CTX ‘GCR sets the pace with new project types’
Blue Carbon is Nature Based, proven and operational Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS has been the ‘buzzword’ of the VCM in the past year, but many of those projects are new and unproven ‘technologies’, some selling ‘credits’ for projects that are not even built yet.
The worst we have seen are ‘Biochar’ projects with 2 page ‘audit’ reports and no evidence that the charcoal is being put into the ground at scale (or in some cases AT ALL), meaning they’re getting ‘credits’ for burning wood chips or biomass – timber.
The highest value Verra VCS project we have sold this year is a Pakistan CCS project for $33.00 per credit but had to be listed on CTX as AFOLU when in fact it’s Wetlands Restoration and Conservation CCS Blue Carbon… Enter Global Carbon Registry (GCR), and thanks to GEMs’ technology, a new Project type is created and listed, then sold at €7.00 ($7.70) per credit for a small 1,125 credits sold and retired. Of course, it’s our first ‘project of the month’ below.
In addition, another new project type in Agro Forestry has been created which have its first credits will be appear listed on CTX under GCR Agriculture on CTX this week.
The GCR ‘pipeline’ incudes more High-Quality Blue Carbon, Forestry, Renewables & Energy Efficiency.
Innovation, flexibility, low costs, seamless CTX integration and incredible technology – the perfect solution for Climate Finance and the future of our planet.
“Global Leading Fintech Corporation”
‘ASEAN Banking Forum Awards CTX’
In February CTX CEO Wayne Sharpe was invited to speak at the ASEAN Banking and Finance Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, about Sustainability (Climate) Finance. On arrival at the event, he was surprised to find that CTX had been nominated and WON – we were awarded the “Global Leading Fintech Award 2024”. For over 17 years Carbon Trade Exchange (CTX) have led the world in this unique sector and served clients and facilitated trading for voluntary carbon credits globally.
Despite humble beginnings in London and being the First Voluntary Carbon Market Exchange (or even trading platform) on earth, CTX has remained privately owned and funded.
The ground-breaking CTX platform was also a finalist in a recent EU Fintech Awards for Best Investment Tech. At these Awards, our Founder and CEO Wayne Sharpe won Innovator of the Year, plus CTX Head of Trade Jennifer Shung was named EU Fintech Rising Star, and CTX received the EU Fintech Diversity and Inclusion Award.
Despite private ownership, with no institutional investors (and no debt), CTX has tirelessly led the way in innovation, creative trading concepts and technology. We feel proud to be recognised as that leader.
We value our clients and partners’ support and will continue to honour that by leading from the front.
Carbon Trade eXchange Asia
Singapore Expansion means CTX Asia leads the pack
South-East Asia for some years has seen loads of carbon platform ‘startups’ – especially in Singapore which has long been considered the regional ‘trading hub’. Despite this, the regional carbon market has floundered due to loads of ‘marketing’ but little or no delivery on service, support or actual credit trading. CTX Asia will now deliver what the market has needed. From this week all CTX Southeast Asian clients will be assigned to the new CTX Licensee and can login into their existing CTX account via the ‘White Label’ link on https://ctx-asia.com/
They will now get dual service from both CTX Asia and CTX Global.
Following the recent launch of Global Carbon Registry Asia in Malaysia, there are huge opportunities and trades ready to roll out. In collaboration with Carbon Vault and TI TerraCarbon in Malaysia, the new CTX company is domiciled in Singapore as the new regional hub for the CTX Global operations.
For more information, please email info@CTX-Asia.com
New Verra Registry Fees
Let’s agree - at low-priced markets this has affected sellers
In the past year, some of our competitors appear to be in a ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of VCM prices, so they have switched to fixed fee per credit on trades, further endorsed by the recent fixed fees (per credit) from some registries. This is especially unpleasant when a certain competitive Asian ‘exchange’ trading platform is selling credits they own at a huge loss (under 50% or projects owners credit value), driving market and sellers’ prices down, in some cases below the cost of issuance fees.
CTX sees the ‘percentage’ fees as fair and a huge benefit for sellers and buyers because the lifeblood of projects is the Climate Finance revenue, and registries should be issuance or then sales and retirement of credits, which is what others like CTX do, not these new fees. And the only way projects remain ‘sustainable’ as a business is to get a reasonable return on their carbon ‘assets’.
For CTX members, the only Clearance and Settlement contract that doesn’t exclude these fees is Verra VCS, so unfortunately, we have had to add / on-charge these – to the buyer in the transaction.
The Good news is that if a CTX member has Verra VCS credits (or any other for that matter) listed with CTX (held in escrow), and wants to sell them OTC, we can support that on our 50% Fees deal (2.5%) to the seller and the BUYER pays the 2 cents per credit in the trade. So, for any OTC trade under $3.00 per credit, it’s a no-brainer when you do the math on the 6 cents per credit you’d pay for the multiple transfers.
For Buyers or Sellers, why not get the best of both worlds?
n.b. The additional fee ‘obstacle’ is that to transfer them BACK to the credit owner – from our escrow – if they want to sell them elsewhere, we also must charge these fees, in advance.
Carbon Scams – Buyer Beware
AI and Internet mean a new era of scams has emerged
“We have 250 million Credits to sell” and “they are ~Verra VCS” 2012 for $10”
Every week, we see these in our CTX Global inbox – all fake and all scams. There are no active projects in VCS with more than 2.2 million for one vintage issued, and multiple that have registered but are possibly scams as well. We have case studies as recent as last week that we can share.
“We have over 500 projects ‘listed for sale’ and unlimited inventory”
A new Canadian AI tool has scraped all the data off some registries and put it online as if it’s for sale via their ‘brokers’. They have no relationship with the credit owners and need to re-negotiate OTC trades AFTER buyers decide to buy. In other words, they are a new OTC online market – really a broker (with zero history?) NOT an exchange and can’t guarantee a deal at all.
Trusted counterparty status is not given – it’s earned. 17+ years of trading – over 800 million Credits traded – $hundreds of millions transacted – and ZERO defaults and ZERO fraud.
Carbon Trade eXchange (CTX) is THE Trusted Counterparty globally.
Projects of The Month
1. Global Carbon Registry
Blue Carbon – Nature Carbon Capture and Storage
(10 SDG’s)
Italy (Europe) – EUR €7.00
Blue Carbon: Nature-Based Carbon Capture and Storage – Coastal ecosystems host the important bio-systems and ecosystems worldwide, including at-risk Wetlands and Mangroves, being simultaneously some of the most economically relevant and vulnerable ecosystems on Earth. These Coastal ecosystems, such as salt marshes, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests, provide fundamental Ecosystem Services. Coastal ecosystems provide a unique natural landscape, enhance biodiversity, support commercial fisheries, protect coastal regions against erosion and storms, provide ecotourism revenues, and act as efficient natural carbon sinks, helping to offset CO2 emissions and fight climate change. All contributing to a sense of place.
Coastal ecosystems are highly efficient at capturing and storing carbon dioxide CO2 from the atmosphere. They sequester carbon at rates that can be several times higher than terrestrial forests. By protecting and restoring these ecosystems, we can effectively reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, which is crucial for mitigating climate change. The Italian “Valle Paleazza” project is a temperate H.C.W. (human controlled wetland) area. Since 2010 many organizations are involved in projects to generate “Blue Carbon” from these temperate areas and provide a means to conserve and restore coastal ecosystems, sequester carbon, support biodiversity, protect coastal communities, and offer economic benefits, all while contributing to global climate change mitigation efforts.
2. BioCarbon Standard
CultivO2 Project - REDD+ (3 SDGs)
Colombia - US $6.00
CultivO2 is a conservation initiative focused on promoting sustainable land management, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation. It is a key component of the biodiversity, carbon, and water conservation strategies. CultivO2 aims to foster the adoption of low-carbon production systems, sustainable land management practices, effective forestry management, and the conservation of forested areas.
The initiative covers a total area of 3,416 hectares, with an estimated 195,110 tCO2e in projected greenhouse gas (GHG) removal. All proceeds from the sale of carbon credits will be reinvested into funding conservation activities. CultivO2 places a strong emphasis on ensuring democratic participation throughout its execution and management.
3. UNFCCC CDM (CTX UN CERs) Wind - (3 SDG’s) Pakistan (Asia) 310,000 listed on CTX - US$0.59 (Negotiable for large trades)
Sapphire 49.5 MW Wind Farm Project – ‘Buy to Retire’ credits from this project achieve (GHG) emission reductions by utilizing wind resources for electricity generation through the construction of a wind farm with a total capacity of 52.8 MW. Prior to the start of implementation of the project activity, the WAPDA electricity grid was dominated by fossil fuels, and there was no power generation unit at the site of the proposed project. The wind farm contributes to solving Pakistan’s acute energy crisis by reducing the number of blackouts and brownouts experienced by other grid users, which can help to improve the economic performance of other businesses connected to the grid. The project offers job opportunities for local people during the construction phase and the operational period and thus achieves economic growth in the region.
This project is the first of its kind in Pakistan where foreign manufacturer wind turbines are used, pioneering the promotion of this technology to other wind power projects.
4. CerCarbono Standard
Reforestation of Tecunumanii Pine – (4 SDG’s)
Northeastern Antioquia, Colombia– US $6.00
The CAS Carbon Project, located in the northeast of Antioquia across the municipalities of Amalfi, Caracolí, Maceo, San Roque, Vegachí, Yolombó, and Yalí in Colombia, currently spans 7,833.54 hectares of eligible plantation area of the species Pinus tecunumanii. The project aims to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over a 20-year period. During the current monitoring period (from November 30, 2017, to September 14, 2022), a total of 573,274 tons of CO2e were verified as being captured across the entire plantation area. This area includes 7,006.69 hectares that were validated in 2018, where plantations were established between 2008 and 2017. Additionally, the project includes the validation and verification of 826.84 hectares of plantations established in 2018 within eligible areas in the municipalities of Amalfi, Maceo, Yalí, and Yolombó.
For OTC Buyers contact trading@ctxglobal.com
CTX Members – if you have any questions, please email operations@ctxglobal.com
Thank you all for your contributions to help save the planet for our future generations.
