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Today Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace, a nonprofit globally recognized leader in fostering voluntary carbon markets’ transparency, launched a powerful new data platform for tracking and analyzing carbon markets and voluntary offsetting by corporations, governments, non-profits, individuals, among others.

The Ecosystem Marketplace (EM) Global Carbon Hub’s Data Intelligence & Analytics Dashboard provides carbon offset transactions, deliveries, issuances, and retirements data and analysis. EM’s unique dataset of pricing and volumes data comes from an international network hundreds of carbon market participants reporting to the EM Global Carbon Survey, with more than 15,000 offset transactions over the past decade. The platform also hosts offsets issuances and retirements data from more than 7,300 projects registered with leading carbon standards Verified Carbon Standard, Gold Standard, American Carbon Registry, Climate Action Reserve, CARB (California Air Resources Board), Clean Development Mechanism, and Plan Vivo, with more to be added in the coming months – the first time EM has made such data been available in a single place.

“As voluntary carbon markets grow to meet booming demand from companies with ambitious net zero goals, we need robust market infrastructure to grow along with it,” says Stephen Donofrio, Director of Ecosystem Marketplace. “The new dashboard offers the broadest, most dynamic dataset on voluntary carbon markets to date.”

The free-to-the-public version 1.0 of the Data Intelligence & Analytics Dashboard includes price and other market data and expert analysis from Ecosystem Marketplace, which will be regularly updated as EM Respondents report new data on calendar year 2020 and year to date 2021 via the redesigned and enhanced EM Global Carbon Survey platform, also launching today. Subsequent iterations of the new platform will include new features, including a machine learning tool to estimate carbon offsets prices, and a data benchmarking analysis tool for users to decode offsets prices and volumes by core carbon, additional attributes, and buyers’ details.

Voluntary carbon markets will be a key tool for corporations and financial institutions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with Paris Agreement targets. The Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (“the Taskforce”), a private-sector-led initiative initiated by Mark Carney, UN special envoy for climate action and finance adviser to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for COP26, has identified a lack of comprehensive and regular market data as a barrier to bringing markets to scale.

“Carbon markets need transparency to scale with integrity,” said Patrick Maguire, Senior Program Manager of Ecosystem Marketplace. “We’re in a unique position as a nonprofit organization to ensure a high degree of transparency, and to make that data widely available, to support more informed decision-making and high standards when it comes to offset quality.”

The EM Data Intelligence & Analytics Dashboard is available in an open-access (log-in required) platform at https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/carbon-markets/em-data-dashboard/

The EM Global Carbon Survey is available and now accepting responses at https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/carbon-markets/em-global-carbon-survey/ 

“You can’t react to what isn’t measured, so we congratulate and thank Ecosystem Marketplace for building upon their historical work to now improve their data collection and management to match growing demand and interest in the voluntary carbon market.” Dee Lawrence, Co-Founder, High Tide Foundation

“We’re delighted to see EM step up to increase access to relevant and timely data for carbon market participants. This effort should help increase trust and investment in the low carbon economy we’re striving for.” Christopher Webb, Director of Climate Markets, Europe, The Nature Conservancy

“Trusted parties like Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace help us drive scale and transparency in the market. We’re at a phase now where we have to scale and decarbonize quickly at the same time. So why not invest in groups that already have credibility in the marketplace? We think EM is moving this forward.” Jeremy Manion, Lead, Forestry Carbon Markets, Arbor Day Foundation

“3Degrees is proud to be a strategic supporter of Ecosystem Marketplace’s 2021 Global Carbon Survey. The data from this initiative is invaluable to our team and provides the insights necessary to ensure honest and transparent market growth.” Stephanie Harris, Director, Carbon Markets, 3Degrees