UNCTAD to launch carbon market network for developing economies at COP31

Traders Union
All News
Financial Institutions
UNCTAD carbon market at COP31

Highlights

UNCTAD will launch the Global Carbon Market Network at COP31, aiming to improve transparency and cross-border connectivity across fragmented carbon markets.
The initiative targets technical cooperation on market integrity, emissions verification, and digital tools to reduce transaction costs without creating new standards or markets.
Carbon pricing now covers nearly 30% of global emissions and will generate over $107 billion in public revenue in 2025, highlighting the sector's financial significance.

COP31 launch targets market fragmentation

As reported by UNCTAD, citing UN Trade and Development, the Global Carbon Market Network is launching at the UN climate summit COP31 to bring together exchanges, financial institutions and other market participants around shared market infrastructure and stronger cross-border connectivity.

Convened by UNCTAD, the network is designed to improve transparency, strengthen credibility and support transactions across carbon markets that remain split across different standards, registries and trading systems. Concerns over credit quality, limited transparency and double counting have weakened confidence and constrained market development, especially in developing economies.

Ahead of the official launch, UNCTAD Acting Secretary-General Pedro Manuel Moreno says he hopes the initiative helps make carbon pricing a more effective tool for cutting emissions and mobilizing climate finance for developing countries. Nan Li Collins, UNCTAD's Director of Investment and Enterprise and chair of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, says carbon markets can help put a price on emissions and mobilize climate action funding, but only if trust, integrity and market infrastructure are strong.

Developing countries stand to gain from stronger links

The network does not create a new carbon market or establish a new standard. Instead, it aims to connect existing initiatives in both voluntary and compliance markets, while promoting technical cooperation on market integrity, emissions measurement and verification, and digital tools that improve transparency and reduce transaction costs.

UNCTAD says voluntary carbon markets have particular potential to channel private capital across borders because most credits are generated by projects in developing countries and sold to buyers in developed countries. Stronger links between markets could increase confidence in those transactions and expand financing for projects that reduce or remove emissions in developing economies.

Carbon pricing already covers nearly 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions and generates more than $107 billion in public revenue in 2025, underscoring the growing financial significance of the sector. By focusing on interoperability rather than creating a parallel system, the new network is positioning itself as a coordination platform for a market that is already scaling but still lacks consistent trust and efficiency.

As noted in our earlier article, the WTO warned Middle East wars and geopolitics will reshape global trade flows as firms redesign supply chains.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.