2025 State of Integrity in the Global Carbon-Credit Market

Research Paper
September 22, 2025

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Ensuring high levels of integrity remains central to scaling the global carbon-credit market. Buyers of carbon credits need ever greater assurance that the credits they are buying have the intended impacts.  

Our 2025 State of Integrity in the Global Carbon-Credit Market Report provides insight into the initiatives that are helping to enhance confidence in the carbon-credit market. Our research reveals how integrity standards are rising, why demand for high-quality projects is outstripping supply and how systemic risks — from delivery delays to governance gaps — are reshaping market dynamics. Drawing on MSCI Carbon Project Ratings covering more than 4,400 registered projects and nearly 250 in the pipeline, this report offers investors and market participants a data-driven lens into the forces shaping carbon-credit quality.

Credit retirements continue to trend toward higher-integrity projects

Annual Carbon Credit Retirements by MSCI Carbon Projects Rating (%). Data as of Sept. 1, 2025. Source: MSCI Carbon Markets.

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State of Integrity in the Global Carbon-Credit Market

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