The cumulative volume of voluntary carbon market (VCM) credit issuances worldwide reached 4.1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO₂e) in 2023. Meanwhile, some 980 million VCM carbon credits had been retired by this point. A carbon credit is retired when it is removed from circulation in the market and can no longer be transferred or sold. When a company retires a carbon credit, it can claim that an equivalent amount of carbon emissions has been offset from its carbon footprint.
Cumulative volume of voluntary carbon market (VCM) issuances and retirements worldwide from 2010 to 2023
(in million metric tons of carbon dioxide)
Includes data on credit issuances and retirements from ACR, CAR, CDM, City Forest Credits, Global Carbon Council, Gold Standard, Plan Vivo, and VCS registries.
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Ecosystem Marketplace. (May 30, 2024). Cumulative volume of voluntary carbon market (VCM) issuances and retirements worldwide from 2010 to 2023 (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1478340/voluntary-carbon-offset-market-transaction-value-worldwide/
Ecosystem Marketplace. "Cumulative volume of voluntary carbon market (VCM) issuances and retirements worldwide from 2010 to 2023 (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide)." Chart. May 30, 2024. Statista. Accessed December 22, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1478340/voluntary-carbon-offset-market-transaction-value-worldwide/
Ecosystem Marketplace. (2024). Cumulative volume of voluntary carbon market (VCM) issuances and retirements worldwide from 2010 to 2023 (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: December 22, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1478340/voluntary-carbon-offset-market-transaction-value-worldwide/
Ecosystem Marketplace. "Cumulative Volume of Voluntary Carbon Market (Vcm) Issuances and Retirements Worldwide from 2010 to 2023 (in Million Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide)." Statista, Statista Inc., 30 May 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1478340/voluntary-carbon-offset-market-transaction-value-worldwide/
Ecosystem Marketplace, Cumulative volume of voluntary carbon market (VCM) issuances and retirements worldwide from 2010 to 2023 (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1478340/voluntary-carbon-offset-market-transaction-value-worldwide/ (last visited December 22, 2024)
Cumulative volume of voluntary carbon market (VCM) issuances and retirements worldwide from 2010 to 2023 (in million metric tons of carbon dioxide) [Graph], Ecosystem Marketplace, May 30, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1478340/voluntary-carbon-offset-market-transaction-value-worldwide/
