Carbon Markets & Climate Policy

Saudi Arabia now offers two routes to carbon credits. RVCMC is a PIF- and Tadawul-backed trading exchange, and GCOM is the domestic mechanism for Saudi-origin projects. Almost all credits sold through RVCMC so far originate outside the Kingdom, and whether a credit is authorised under Article 6 decides what a buyer can legally claim. For […]

CBAM’s Definitive Regime Is Live: What GCC Steel and Aluminium Exporters Actually Owe in 2026 The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) entered its definitive regime on 1 January 2026, but a GCC steel or aluminium exporter owes very little in certificate cash for 2026, and nothing is payable until 30 September 2027. What is […]

A stranded asset is a building that loses economic value well before the end of its useful life because external conditions shift, whether through physical climate damage, rising insurance costs, or new regulation. In the GCC, all three pressures are converging: the Gulf is warming faster than the global average, the most valuable waterfront stock […]

Regenerative agriculture credits are emerging as a way to fund farming practices that restore soil, improve water retention, reduce chemical dependency and, where properly measured, store more carbon in agricultural land. For the GCC, this is a food security, desertification, water resilience and supply-chain data story. The opportunity is real, but only if credits are […]

The GCC’s marketplace economy is getting bigger, faster, and harder to measure cleanly. Dubai’s Dubai Traders Initiative says it has onboarded more than 2,600 e-commerce sellers, and WORLDEF Dubai 2026 explicitly framed the future of e-commerce around innovation, sustainability, and inclusive growth. In parallel, the UAE climate law applies to sources in the state, including […]

For FMCG operators in the GCC, cold chain emissions rarely sit in one neat box. They are usually split across Scope 1 fugitive emissions from refrigerant leaks, Scope 2 electricity used to keep products cold, and Scope 3 emissions from outsourced refrigerated transport and storage. The accounting treatment is straightforward in principle, but the harder […]

COP outcomes matter in the GCC when they change what gets funded, what gets bought, and what gets audited. COP29 (Baku, 2024) agreed a quantified post‑2025 New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, with developed countries taking the lead in mobilizing USD 300bn per year by 2035 for developing countries and a broader collective […]

A carbon credit represents the reduction or removal of one metric ton of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent). Credits are issued to verified projects and can be used by organizations to compensate for emissions in both regulated compliance programs and voluntary markets.

The carbon credit market, often touted as a critical tool in the fight against climate change, has its share of challenges and controversies. While it is designed to incentivize emission reductions and support sustainability initiatives, several issues have plagued its effectiveness and integrity.