The
Voluntary
Carbon
Market

 
 

A robust and effective means to tackle climate change

The early days of the voluntary carbon market were characterized by pioneering new approaches to fight climate change. Today, the voluntary carbon market has become an established and powerful tool for impactful climate action.
View the Interactive Graphic
The timeline includes the market’s early phase in the 1990s when it served to pioneer new approaches for fighting climate change to the present in which it is a mainstream tool for taking impactful climate action.

The milestones in this graphic are not meant to represent a complete and comprehensive history of the voluntary carbon market; instead, these milestones constitute significant actions at the regulatory, market, and standards level that are indicative of the advances the market has undergone at various stages.

The timeline “Evolution of Voluntary Carbon Market” was developed by a working group of the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA). We thank VNV Advisory for their excellent technical and design support in the execution of this work.