At the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, the European Union and China announced their participation in a Brazil-led coalition aimed at harmonizing and integrating carbon markets worldwide.
This initiative, which also includes the UK, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Mexico, and several other countries, seeks to align practices and standards for carbon pricing to effectively reduce CO2 emissions and fund green technology transitions. The coalition’s goal is to leverage carbon market revenues to support national climate plans and accelerate decarbonization efforts to meet the Paris Agreement targets.
The EU has highlighted carbon pricing as a key tool, citing its own carbon trading system as instrumental in cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% since 2005 while generating significant revenue for climate investments. Brazil’s initiative promotes voluntary cooperation among nations to create a unified framework for carbon credits, improving market transparency and liquidity.
COP30 emphasizes the critical need for accelerating national climate commitments, scaling climate finance, and protecting nature—areas where carbon markets play a vital role.
The declaration, unveiled on Friday as a result of the pre-COP30 leaders meeting, serves as a symbolic call for countries worldwide to develop strategies and establish carbon markets similar to the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which has been operational since 2005.
This initiative encourages global cooperation to adopt compliance carbon markets as a key policy tool to drive emission reductions and support climate goals under the Paris Agreement. It aims to promote the sharing of experiences, harmonization of standards, and potential interoperability of carbon pricing systems among participating nations, helping accelerate decarbonization and financing of green technologies.
This declaration marks an important step in fostering a coordinated international framework for carbon markets, encouraging voluntary participation, and highlighting the effectiveness of market-based mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while enabling just and fair transitions for all countries involved.