Voluntary carbon markets plunge in 2009

Mongabay: Battered by a faltering world economy and lack of progress on U.S. climate legislation, voluntary carbon markets declined by nearly every measure in 2009, according to the fourth annual State of the Voluntary Carbon Market Report issued today by Ecosystem Marketplace and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The report recorded a 26 percent drop in transactions (to 94 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions reductions), a 47 percent fall in the total value of traded credits (to $387 million), and an 11 percent decline in the average price of an emission reduction (to $6.50/tCO2e).


"The economic recession had a marked impact on the part of the market primarily concerned with buying credits to offset emissions of companies and individuals," Milo Sjardin, Bloomberg New Energy Finance Director and report co-author, said in a statement.

Read more at Mongabay and Download the Full Report [PDF]