Global Trends in the Voluntary Carbon Market: What Can Portugal Learn?
The voluntary carbon market has undergone accelerated transformation in recent decades, driven by the growing corporate commitment to carbon neutrality and stakeholder pressure for concrete climate action. In this context, Portugal—rich in natural resources and green innovation—has a strategic opportunity to learn from emerging global trends and position itself as a relevant leader in this expanding market.
Three main trends stand out: the growing demand for high-quality and high-integrity carbon credits; the focus on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS); and the convergence with regulated carbon markets. In addition, innovative alternatives such as carbon mineralization and biochar are emerging as promising solutions, offering greater permanence, traceability, and co-benefits for soils and local communities.
1. The rise of high-integrity carbon credits
Quality and integrity have become central criteria for companies and investors when purchasing credits. After years of criticism regarding transparency and effectiveness, there is now strong demand for credits that prove real, additional, permanent, and measurable emission reductions or removals. Organizations such as the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) are setting rigorous standards, such as the Core Carbon Principles, to ensure credibility. Portugal can learn from this by investing in robust MRV methodologies (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification), supporting independent audits, and using digital traceability technologies such as blockchain to enhance buyer confidence.
2. Nature-Based Solutions and the “Carbon+” concept
Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) such as reforestation, forest conservation, wetland restoration, and sustainable land management are gaining momentum for delivering carbon removal alongside multiple environmental and social co-benefits. This is where the concept of “Carbon+” emerges: credits that go beyond emissions offsetting by also delivering biodiversity protection, ecosystem resilience, and community development.
Portugal, with its vast rural landscapes and biodiversity, is well-positioned to develop NBS projects aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), generating green jobs, rural revitalization, and stronger climate resilience.
3. Emerging technologies: mineralization and biochar
While NBS are powerful, they face challenges related to permanence and risk of reversal. Wildfires in Portugal and France, for example, can release stored carbon. Technologies like carbon mineralization and biochar production provide safer, more permanent solutions. Mineralization transforms CO₂ into stable minerals, ensuring geological storage for thousands of years. Biochar, produced through biomass pyrolysis, locks carbon in a stable form while enriching soils, improving fertility, and reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers.
Both technologies offer high traceability, permanence, and multiple co-benefits—essential features for premium carbon credits. For instance, biochar can combat soil degradation in southern Portugal, while mineralization projects can leverage waste streams from cement and mining industries to capture and permanently store CO₂.
4. Convergence of voluntary and regulated markets
An increasing overlap is emerging between voluntary and regulated markets, such as the EU ETS. While still limited, this convergence may allow qualified voluntary credits to be recognized in future compliance frameworks. Portugal can prepare by developing a national quality framework for carbon credits, aligned with European and international standards.
Conclusion
The future of the carbon market belongs to projects that are transparent, permanent, and deliver multiple co-benefits. Portugal has the natural resources, scientific capacity, and green transition momentum to become a leader. By combining biochar and mineralization with high-integrity NBS and a focus on “Carbon+,” the country can become a global model of a responsible, sustainable, and inclusive carbon market.👉 To learn more, register for our free Carbon Market Webinar (Sept 10) or our Forestation Methodology Webinar (Sept 17).