ABU DHABIUnited Arab Emirates, November 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Seagrass Limited (“Seagrass”), a climate action company focused on reducing climate impact and a wholly owned subsidiary of E.ON, one of Europe the largest energy network and infrastructure operators, today announced its official launch.
Seagrass aims to unlock the potential of carbon markets and transform carbon finance, which can make an important contribution to the transition to net zero emissions. It will bring together the supply of certified projects and large-scale demand from buyers with ambitious climate strategies in a centralized marketplace focused on technology, transparency and integrity.
Seagrass will be based in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) financial center located in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES). It holds a license to arrange transactions in environmental instruments from the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
The UAE sits at the crossroads between the Global South – where many naturally occurring carbon credits come from – and places where demand for these credits is expected to grow, including Europe And Asia. The United Arab Emirates will also host COP28the development of high-quality voluntary carbon markets should be a key area of intervention.
“Carbon markets will play a crucial role in the transition to a sustainable world,” said Naveed Tariq, CEO of Seagrass. “They can deliver large-scale climate impact to help us reach the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target and be instrumental in delivering the billions of dollars needed to close the climate finance gap .”
“As a subsidiary of a large energy company, we know what buyers need: liquidity, ease of use and – above all – integrity,” he added. “Our ambition is to work with partners to build this market and deliver climate solutions that will ultimately help us restore the planet.”
Arvind RamamurthyHead of Market Development at ADGM, said: “We are delighted to welcome Seagrass to ADGM. We are confident that ADGM’s dynamic ecosystem and progressive regulations will help realize Seagrass’ vision, helping them drive innovation in rapidly developing carbon markets and contributing to the continued development of carbon markets. development of that of Abu Dhabi strategic value and also to accelerate the energy transition of the United Arab Emirates. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of Seagrass’ expertise in contributing to the growth and development of the financial ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and beyond.”
Seagrass is launching at a time when carbon markets are developing integrity standards in response to market demands and to support much-needed scale. These include the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) Complaints Codes of Practice, which aim to accelerate businesses’ use of the market as part of net zero emissions strategies, and the Label of the Carbon Fundamentals of the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Council (ICVCM), which is intended to help buyers identify and price high-integrity carbon credits.
According to scenario analysis by MSCI Carbon Markets, demand for carbon offsets could increase from 500 MtCO2e in 2023 to 1,312 MtCO2e by 2030 and 4,356 MtCO2e by 2050, driven by hard-to-abate sectors.
Basic integrity and simplicity
Seagrass will connect leading credit buyers from various sectors – including energy, industrial, transportation and financial services – with credits from certified projects.
Seagrass is developing an insurance framework for credits available on its marketplace. This framework will require certification of projects by recognized organizations. Although grades assigned to different projects vary and can change quickly, we will also establish minimum grade requirements.
Our framework will include measures to ensure that projects negotiated on Seagrass generate measurable, incremental, permanent emissions reductions or removals. We will also evaluate measures related to the social impact and biodiversity of the projects.
Alongside these safeguards, we will review project governance and risks related to corruption, human rights violations and armed conflict. We will develop a minimum standard for these risks and exclude projects that do not meet it. As the voluntary and compliant market adopts new standards for high-quality credit and innovation, Seagrass will align its offering with these standards and buyer demand.
The platform will facilitate market advice, spot trading, block trading and auctions to meet the different settlement needs of market participants. In addition to trading on the platform, Seagrass’ team of demand and supply specialists will help clients facilitate private investments.
Once onboarded on Seagrass, buyers will be able to choose from a wide range of projects around the world and close transactions in days rather than weeks or months, which would be the typical time frame for bilateral transactions. Seagrass will provide access to projects that catalyze investments in nature-based solutions as well as those that finance emerging climate technologies.
Seagrass also provides buyers and sellers with an intuitive digital platform and tools to simplify carbon trading and investing. Users will have access to the Seagrass Carbon Map, which brings together a wide range of data points on the real impact of projects, including environmental, economic and project information. Created in collaboration with Inacta, Esri Sverige, MSCI Carbon Markets, OroraTech and The Hashgraph Association, the app will also support ongoing engagement between Seagrass users and project developers.
ACX (AirCarbon Exchange) is the exchange software and infrastructure provider for the Seagrass Market, offering users integrated exchange, custody and clearing services. ACX is the world’s first regulated carbon credit exchange and clearing house, established within the ADGM.
To learn more about seagrasses, please visit: www.seagrass-climate.com
About seagrasses
Seagrass is a climate action company focused on unlocking the potential of carbon markets and transforming carbon finance to accelerate the transition to net zero. A wholly owned subsidiary of E.ON, one of Europe largest operators of energy networks and energy infrastructure, Seagrass is headquartered in the financial center of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). It is authorized by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to arrange transactions in environmental instruments.
About E.ON
E.ON is an investor-owned international energy company headquartered in Essen, Germany, which focuses on energy networks and customer solutions. As one of Europe major energy companies, E.ON plays a leading role in shaping a clean, digital and decentralized energy world. To this end, around 74,000 employees develop and sell products and solutions for private, commercial and industrial customers. Around 48 million customers buy electricity, gas, digital products or solutions for electric mobility, energy efficiency and climate protection from E.ON.
For more information, please visit www.eon.com
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