Xpansiv, a leading infrastructure provider for the global energy transition, began trading standardised Global Emissions Offset™ (GEO®) contracts aligned with the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles (CCP) on its CBL spot exchange.
Among the first participants were Mercuria Energy America, LLC, ClimeCo, ElectroRoute, Valitera, South Pole, and Cross Stone Capital. The launch saw a total of 37,606 metric tons traded through the new CCP GEO contracts, reflecting strong global interest. This included 10,000 tons of ACR credits, 15,606 tons of CAR credits, and 12,000 tons of VCS credits, with a total of 73,778 tons in bids and offers posted during the trading day.
CCP-labeled carbon credits are verified under ICVCM’s rigorous standards, ensuring high integrity in terms of additionality, emission reductions, permanence, and positive social and environmental impacts. The ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles set a benchmark for high-integrity project credits, with seven qualifying methodologies announced in June and more expected in the coming months. Credits labeled as CCP eligible will be deliverable under the respective CCP GEO contracts.
Xpansiv CBL’s new registry-specific GEO® contracts allow buyers to obtain CCP-approved credits from ACR, Climate Action Reserve (CAR), and Verra registries. These contracts will be settled daily based on Platts price assessments from S&P Global Commodity Insights (SPGCI), a leading price reporting agency in the carbon markets. The CCP ACR contract closed at $2.25, the CCP CAR at $9.13, and the CCP VCS at $2.50.
Adam Raphaely, Managing Director, Mercuria Energy America, LLC said, “The launch of Xpansiv CBL’s standardised contracts is an important step to provide transparent price discovery and streamlined market access to buyers and sellers of ICVCM CCP-approved credits. Mercuria is pleased to support innovative market-based mechanisms, such as CBL’s new CCP instruments, that have the potential to accelerate and scale climate finance critically needed to drive decarbonisation globally”.
“Standardisation efforts such as this contract are likely to be very positive for the market, and we are pleased to participate at an early stage,” said Alex Bryson, Head of Green and Carbon, at trading company ElectroRoute.
Vincent Verweij, Co-head of Carbon Markets at Valitera said, “The Core Carbon Principles, and their corresponding standardised contracts, are an important validation of the voluntary carbon market, which we think will be a useful paradigm for new companies entering the VCM as well as for veteran participants.”
“We support the roll out of Xpansiv CBL’s CCP standardised contracts, which is an important step in enabling market participants to differentiate high-quality credits within the VCM,” said Tyler Hogan, COO/co-CIO of Cross Stone Capital, a leading VCM market maker.
Russell Karas, Senior Vice President, Xpansiv said, “The ICVCM CCPs are a clear signal of high-integrity carbon credits. They hold the promise of revamping the VCM as additional methodologies are approved and as market participants become familiar with the CCP paradigm and the available streamlined trading instruments, including our standardised contracts.”