Natwest, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, ITAU and the National Australia Bank have joined forces to create a new marketplace for firms to buy and sell carbon offsets.
The marketplace – named Project Carbon – will be blockchain-based and will be launched as a pilot project in August of this year.
Project Carbon will act as a base for where the four banks corporate customers will be able to buy and sell carbon offsets with easy to understand and consistent pricing standards. Further banks are expected to join at a later date.
Carbon offsets are commonly used as a tool by many companies to support the reduction of their environmental impact. However, the four banks claimed that there is currently no consistent global value for them.
In the Project Carbon marketplace, users will be able to view the price history of available carbon credits as well as being able to view all documentation relating to their quality and integrity.
Furthermore, all customer transactions in the marketplace will be recorded on the blockchain ledger which will record ownership and offer reporting for post-transaction settlement.
According to the partner banks, the marketplace could help create more carbon offset projects because firms will be able to better understand what the return on each credit looks like.
NatWest CEO Alison Rose said, “Reaching net-zero is a global effort and I am pleased we are working across the industry to support our customers and help tackle the climate challenge.”
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