Nine major banks invest $45m in carbon credit network Carbonplace

The newly formed entity with Scott Eaton as its CEO connects buyers and sellers of carbon credits through their banks.

Carbonplace, a carbon credit transaction network, has raised $45m from its nine founder banks and formed its own entity.

Connecting buyers and sellers of carbon credits through their banks, Carbonplace secured the seed funding from the banks that founded it, NatWest, BNP Paribas, UBS, Standard Chartered, National Australia Bank, BBVA, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco and SMBC.

Each bank now has equal equity ownership in the company, which is expected to launch its platform this year and will be headed up by CEO Scott Eaton.

“With Carbonplace, we are transforming the way that carbon credits are bought, distributed, held and retired,” Eaton said.

“I am excited to take this company to the next level of its evolution, and to help unlock its massive potential to drive significant economic and social value by opening the carbon markets up to the world.”

Eaton joins Carbonplace from capital markets fintech Nivaura, where he served as CEO.

Prior to that, he was CEO of Algomi from 2018 until it was sold to BGC in 2020.

As CEO of Carbonplace, Eaton will lead the now-independent entity in helping to bring the world closer to net zero emissions by enabling financial institutions, exchanges, marketplaces and registries to buy and transfer carbon credits.

“Carbonplace creates an efficient and secure network for carbon credit transactions,” NatWest Markets CEO Robert Begbie said.

According to research supported by McKinsey, it is estimated that demand for carbon credits could increase fifteenfold by 2030 and a hundredfold by 2050. 

By 2030, the overall market for carbon credits could be worth more than $50bn.

“To meet that demand, Carbonplace is delivering a reliable, secure and scalable technology that will form a crucial part of the infrastructure for carbon markets to drive climate action at scale,” Begbie continued.

With the capital injection from some of the world’s largest financial institutions – which collectively account for nearly $9 trillion in assets – the company intends to scale its platform and team and expand to a wider range of financial institutions.

So far it has piloted trades with a number of buyers, sellers, registries and exchanges, including Visa and Singapore-based marketplace Climate Impact X.