RVCMC Convenes Global South to Agree upon a Unified Position on Carbon Trading Ahead of COP28

The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC) is convening participants in carbon markets across the Global South to agree on a list of actions ahead of the COP28 climate summit.

RVCMC is a Saudi Arabian company owned by the Public Investment Fund and Tadawul Group. The business is one of the leading voices globally on voluntary carbon markets, having conducted the world’s largest-ever auction of carbon credits in June 2023.

RVCMC announced today that it will host a summit in Riyadh on October 26, 2023, as part of the Future Investment Initiative, which will debate the key challenges to promoting greater use of voluntary carbon markets globally to help mitigate emissions.

The RVCMC summit, entitled Global South Carbon Markets Conference – Riyadh Edition will be produced in association with S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The summit agenda will feature speakers from emerging economies across the world, as well as global financial institutions keen to create greater trade in carbon credits. Topics to be debated include:

* How carbon markets can stimulate climate action

* Sovereignty of carbon credits in the Global South

* Amplifying voices of Indigenous communities in the carbon markets

* Regulatory mechanisms that can mitigate risk and support the scaling of global carbon markets

* The role of Islamic Finance in developing global carbon markets

* Outcomes the Global South would want to achieve in COP28

Rania Nashar, chairwoman of RVCMC, said: “Carbon trading is a key tool in helping the world address the devastating effects of climate change. With RVCMC, we have created a business headquartered in Saudi Arabia that is having a huge impact on this market globally – holding the world’s largest-ever auction of voluntary carbon credits earlier this year. This is a real Saudi success story, supported by PIF and by the Saudi Tadawul Group. The success we have had means we have a key role to play in developing this market globally. With this event in Riyadh, we are bringing together voices from across the Global South to find agreement on what we all want to see happen at COP28. We need a unified approach to help take this fast-growing market in carbon credits and see it become an even more crucial factor in supporting the global drive towards a carbon-neutral future.”

Chief Executive Officer of RVCMC Riham ElGizy said: “Carbon trading has always been a key part of how the world plans to address climate change. There is a framework in place in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement which sets out the ways that voluntary carbon credits can be used globally to help countries that produce less emissions sell credits to countries that are going to struggle to cut emissions as quickly as they would like. Not all of these processes are working as smoothly as they could. But if we can get this system working properly then carbon trading can become a very powerful tool to scale and finance the export of voluntary carbon credits from the Global South, to mitigate the impacts of climate change globally while providing the Global South with financial resources to support their development and address the impacts of climate change. We are bringing international stakeholders together in Riyadh, on the sidelines of FII, to debate the key points that need to be advanced during the debates at COP28. As participants in the development of carbon markets in the Global South we all need to come together and find common ground, so that we can have an impact on the debate. That’s why we are hosting this summit.”

Lyn Tattum, Head of Conferences, Training and Strategic Media for S&P Global Commodity Insights, said: “We are pleased to partner with RVCMC to produce this important inaugural carbon markets event in Riyadh. In addition to convening an engaged global community, we are bringing the expertise and data of S&P Global Commodity Insights to support discussions on providing global carbon solutions with a particular focus on the Global South. I am confident that the conference will provide a roadmap for engaging this topic at COP28 and a clear path for further discussions at important points on the global calendar.”