Saudi Arabia’s Voluntary Carbon Market Co. projects 20 million carbon credits will be traded next year, double the total contracts that have exchanged hands since 2022.
The emissions trading platform — a joint venture between Public Investment Fund and the local exchange — is part of the kingdom’s efforts to reach net zero by 2060. The company’s acting CEO Fadi Saadeh told Semafor that it established an advisory service offering to help companies understand the role of carbon credit trading in their net zero plans.
“When we started there was zero demand and zero supply,” Saadeh said. There are now around 70% of Saudi firms trading on the exchange along with others from countries including Brazil, China, France, Japan and the US. “Getting to net zero is a very long journey, and companies need to have an option for them to offset their carbon emissions until we get there.”