Voluntary carbon offset market triples in value

The global market for voluntary carbon offset credits trebled in value last year to $331m, according to a new report from analyst firm New Carbon Finance and transactional services company Ecosystem Marketplace.

The report, which was compiled with data from 150 suppliers of carbon offsets, as well as registries and brokers, found that the value of the market soared during 2007 from $97m in 2006 to $331m a year later.

Milo Sjardin, head of North American operations at New Carbon Finance, said that the expansion of the market had been driven by both an increase in the volume of carbon credits traded and rising prices.

The report found that the volume of credits trade rose 65 per cent year-on-year to over 65 million tonnes, while the average price paid to offset one tonne of CO2 rose from approximately four to six dollars.

Katherine Hamilton, an author of the report and an associate director at Ecosystem Marketplace, said that the rapid expansion of the market was also being accompanied by "signs of maturation" in the market, such as the emergence of widely recognised offset verification and trading standards, and the establishment of new registries designed to tackle the double counting of credits.