Reporting and opinion by Mathew Carr

July 5-6, 2025 — G20/South Africa/UN unveil carbon market plan Friday…. immediately after Donald Trump gets what he wanted on trade and military spending (Big Beautiful Bill passed + massive boost in NATO spending).

Holding the global currency of choice, the USA has substantial leverage in climate negotiations. It’s still the biggest historical emitter even vs the much bigger population of China.

A better system is needed to turn the various disparate carbon credit systems into a global commodity. That would drive investment in emission reduction projects and provide climate finance for developing countries.

This document below, published Friday July 4, was flagged for publication in early June …so it appears a month late, to me….as thousands of extra deaths were recorded in Europe in June and July because of an intense heatwave … and as scores are killed by floods in Texas…children missing. Plus…. China’s deadly floods are the worst, for years.

But hey …no rush …right? (The world agreed in the Paris climate deal in 2015 to have this done by 2021…sorta.)

Apparently money making is more important and urgent than humanity’s future …or children’s lives.

The plan below finally brings a fragmented carbon market together after about 35 years of lawmaking.

For instance, the plans sets out how various carbon credits can be made more fungible. Eg Korea vs California vs EU vs UN.

A key question. Which countries will participate in the pilot phase in 2025-2026? All countries should.

Unlike crypto, there really is scarcity in carbon markets.

Prices are going up.

The consultation runs July 4-Aug 12, 2025.

https://g20sfwg.org/

Phase one

Phase two

Corsia (airline carbon market) phases