Backed by Saudi Arabia, Kenya hosts the largest carbon credit sale in the world

• Kenyan capital hosts the largest-ever carbon credit sale, with Saudi Arabian businesses leading the bidding. 
• Growing demand for carbon offsets as businesses strive for net-zero emissions. 
• Kenya was chosen as the auction location to highlight climate investment needs and combat the devastating effects of climate change.

The Kenyan capital is hosting what the organizers have dubbed the largest sale of its sort in the world, with more than a dozen businesses, mostly from Saudi Arabia, bidding for 2 million tonnes of carbon credits.

As businesses look to use the credits to help fulfill net-zero emissions objectives, the demand for carbon offsets, which are produced through initiatives like planting trees or using cleaner cooking fuel, is anticipated to increase.

The Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC), which was established by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and the Saudi Tawadul Group, is managing the auction in Nairobi. According to a statement from RVCMC, the certified credits that be sold will support initiatives that either remove carbon from the environment or use sustainable technology to reduce emissions.

RVCMC said it picked Kenya to emphasize the need for investments in climate initiatives when it staged its inaugural auction of 1.4 million tonnes of carbon credits in Riyadh last October.

Despite being a tiny emitter, with less than 1% of yearly world emissions, the East African country has been severely affected by climate change in recent years, with disastrous droughts destroying crops, habitats, and animals.

Growing the voluntary carbon market is viewed as an essential component of the global effort to combat climate change since it enables businesses to partially offset their emissions by funding initiatives that will store the greenhouse gas.

The market for offsets is expected to increase as more businesses aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, while some have been deterred by worries about the quality of some projects and a number of organizations are working to tighten industry regulations.

The annual worldwide market for voluntary carbon credits, valued at about $2 billion in 2021, might reach $50 billion by 2030, according to consultants at McKinsey.

However, critics have in the past raised issues such as low transparency, a finite supply of credits, and worries about the caliber of projects.