The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has published research on the primary-market dynamics of voluntary carbon markets (VCMs), analysing carbon offset projects across four major voluntary registries with vintage years from 1996 to 31 December 2024. The study finds long lags in credit issuance and retirement relative to established markets, alongside a shift in demand away from large end-users. On average, it takes 2.5 years from a credit’s vintage year to issuance, compared with an indicative 8–12 weeks for green bond issuance; while issuance time has decreased, it remains above 2010 levels and varies by project type and registry. The average time from vintage year to retirement is 4.4 years, with an uptrend in retirement age from 2015 to 2021; Household & Community projects show the shortest retirement age (3 years) and Carbon Capture & Storage the longest (9 years). The proportional demand from large end-users, particularly the top ten retirement beneficiaries, has declined by roughly 27 percentage points since 2010; over 54% of retirements are smaller than 10 tCO2e and the mean retired quantity is 2,730 tCO2e. The WFE will present the findings in a webinar on 10 March at 1pm GMT and will convene stakeholders on 5 June in Singapore at its annual ESG meeting.
World Federation of Exchanges 2025-03-05
World Federation of Exchanges research finds voluntary carbon credit issuance averages 2.5 years and highlights major efficiency gaps versus mainstream markets
The World Federation of Exchanges published research on voluntary carbon markets, highlighting long lags in credit issuance and retirement compared to established markets, with a notable shift in demand away from large end-users. The study reveals an average issuance lag of 2.5 years and a retirement lag of 4.4 years, with significant variation by project type and registry.