DBS Bank (DBS), Singapore Exchange (SGX), Standard Chartered and Temasek will join forces to develop Climate Impact X (CIX), a global carbon exchange and marketplace.
According to a joint press release, the companies will enter a joint venture to establish CIX, which is aimed at providing organisations with high-quality carbon credits to address “hard-to-abate emissions”.
Organisations will be able to buy and sell carbon credits on CIX through different products and platforms that will be offered.
This includes the Exchange, which will facilitate large-scale sales of high-quality carbon credits through standardised contracts, primarily aimed at multinational corporations and institutional investors. In addition, CIX will establish the Project Marketplace, offering corporates a curated selection of projects that can help meet their sustainability objectives. Each project on the Project Marketplace will be supported by transparent environmental impact, risk and pricing data.
To start with, CIX will focus on featuring carbon credits from natural climate solutions (NCS) projects on its platforms. NCS projects involve the protection and restoration of natural ecosystems such as forests, wetlands and mangroves.
The Exchange and the Project Marketplace are expected to be launched by end-2021, with CIX to be headquartered in Singapore.
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CIX will utilise satellite monitoring, machine learning and blockchain technology to “enhance the transparency, integrity and quality of carbon credits that deliver tangible and lasting environmental impact”.
CIX will be guided by an advisory council, comprising independent experts from non-governmental organisations, leading corporates and project developers, and academics and thought leaders.
It will also work with an ecosystem of global partners and international working groups, including the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM) and the Natural Climate Solutions Alliance, to align on leading standards for quality and integrity.
Mikkel Larsen, interim CEO of CIX and chief sustainability officer at DBS, says CIX will provide a solution for corporates to address "unavoidable carbon emissions" in the near term while also propelling new carbon credit projects worldwide.
"With an initial focus on NCS, the carbon credits will also create impetus to address another grave risk of biodiversity loss and help serve local communities. CIX will build on collective action by global governments, corporates and individuals to achieve a net-zero economy," he says.
