Nasdaq Survey Report: 2024 Global Net Zero Pulse
Review the results from a survey that primarily polled corporate carbon credit buyers, who share insight into how the market for durable carbon removal credits has changed over the past year and the role carbon credits play in net zero strategies. The goal of this report is to help close carbon removal credit knowledge gaps and support carbon market stakeholders with fresh insights.
How has the VCM changed in the last 12 months?
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) continues to be a necessary tool within the corporate net zero toolbox. But if CDR efforts expect to leverage the voluntary carbon market (VCM) as a financing vehicle for conventional and novel CDR, a deeper analysis of buying preferences is critical.
Considering the detail uncovered within the VCM from last year’s Nasdaq Global Net Zero Pulse survey, the Nasdaq ESG Advisory team used this year’s survey to capture answers to the question: How has the VCM changed in the last 12 months? To do so, the team uncovered insights that span three key themes necessary to scale the VCM and CDR adoption:
- Corporate net zero alignment
- Carbon credit purchase strategies
- Carbon market dynamics
Key Findings
Despite demand-side uncertainty in the market, there appears to be a need for durable CDR to achieve net zero.
Respondents associate using carbon removal credits as an integral part of their net zero strategy. 57% plan to invest in nature-based and technology-based carbon removal solutions to neutralize their residual emissions and less than 10% expect to reach net zero without using any carbon credits.
To guide the carbon credit procurement process, companies are setting a strategy that aligns to their sustainability goals and targets.
93% of carbon credit buyer respondents report their company has a carbon credit strategy in place. In line with last year’s survey findings, strategies that focus on carbon removal credits are favored by respondents from larger companies, whereas smaller companies are more likely to have strategies that focus on carbon reduction or avoidance credits.
With carbon offset claims at risk of being viewed as greenwashing, corporate buyers are concerned about properly evaluating credits.
Consistent with 2023 survey results, MRV, cost, and permanence are prioritized components for corporate buyers purchasing carbon removal credits.
The evolving regulatory landscape plays a larger role in determining how companies approach their carbon credit procurement strategy.
While carbon removals have been largely unregulated, regulators and policy makers have focused more attention on the voluntary carbon markets. 72% of survey respondents report feeling pressure from this suite of policies, especially the SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules and California’s AB-1305.
Familiarity with carbon removal credit types is not uniform – corporate buyers are interested in further education on carbon removals.
Survey respondents report familiarity with reforestation (83%), DAC (76%), and biochar (63%), suggesting that corporate education for individual CDR pathways is still needed. In addition, ocean-based CDR pathways are the least understood by survey respondents.
