Mubadala secures strategic stake in AirCarbon Exchange (ACX), which is in the midst of establishing the first regulated carbon trading exchange and carbon clearing house based in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, LONDON and SINGAPORE
ACX is a global environmental commodities exchange that uses distributed ledger technology within a traditional commodity trading construct. It leverages blockchain architecture to create securitized carbon credits. This framework allows corporates to trade and finance carbon credits like conventional financial assets, increasing participation and investment in global carbon reduction and offset programs.
H.E. Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), said: “The UAE continues to be a leader in leveraging the path to a lower carbon economy to safeguard the environment, drive down emissions and create lasting economic opportunities. The investment by Mubadala in ACX is a great testament to the commitment toward climate action, which will enable investors and businesses to voluntarily purchase verified emissions reductions in the form of carbon credits within the progressive ecosystem of ADGM. As one of the first-fully regulated jurisdictions in the world to regulate carbon credits and offsets as environmental instruments in a voluntary market, ADGM is committed to playing a leading role in facilitating the transition to a lower carbon economy by stimulating sustainable finance flows of investments.”
Commenting on this transaction, Badr Al Olama, Executive Director of UAE Clusters at Mubadala Investment Company, said: “AirCarbon Exchange is set to be an important player within the international sustainable finance ecosystem, supporting the growth of environmental commodities, especially in light of the ongoing impact of climate change globally. This transaction will strengthen the UAE’s competitiveness on the world stage, while driving forward a future-focused sector that is vital to the UAE’s decarbonization journey.”
Thomas McMahon, CEO & Co-Founder of ACX also added, “We are honoured today to announce Mubadala’s investment in ACX. It represents Mubadala’s confidence in the growth potential of ACX and validates the hard work the team has committed into developing ACX and our joint commitment going forward to scaling the voluntary carbon market both in region and globally.”
William Pazos, Managing Director & Co-Founder of ACX said, “Carbon markets are growing at breakneck speed, making innovation key to maintaining relevance. Mubadala and the broader Abu Dhabi government have the impetus to take a leading role in scaling carbon markets. We are honoured to form a partnership with them and look forward to the exciting years ahead.”
ADGM is the first jurisdiction globally to regulate carbon credits and offsets as spot commodities supported by the introduction of environmental instruments as financial instruments, and to license carbon exchanges and clearing houses that operate both spot and derivatives markets. In addition, ADGM itself has achieved ‘carbon neutrality’ by offsetting its 2021 carbon emissions as an organization to become the world’s first carbon-neutral international financial center, underpinning its commitment to building a progressive and more sustainable economy in line with the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.
ACX has recently been granted Recognition Orders by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to operate as a Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) and as a Recognized Clearing House (RCH) in ADGM. This ground-breaking new regulatory framework brings strengthened market structure, trust and integrity to the voluntary carbon markets, and within the framework includes rules supervised by the FSRA across fair and orderly trading, real-time trade surveillance, regulated spot carbon contracts, full market transparency and price discovery, and real-time settlement.
About Mubadala Investment Company
Mubadala Investment Company is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio, aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for the Government of Abu Dhabi.
Mubadala’s $284 billion (AED 1045 billion) portfolio spans six continents with interests in multiple sectors and asset classes. We leverage our deep sectoral expertise and long-standing partnerships to drive sustainable growth and profit, while supporting the continued diversification and global integration of the economy of the United Arab Emirates.
About AirCarbon Exchange (ACX)
AirCarbon Exchange (“ACX”) is a global exchange revolutionizing the voluntary carbon market. The Exchange’s client base comprises corporate entities, financial traders, carbon project developers and other industry stakeholders. ACX provides its participants with an efficient and transparent trading platform which is easy to use, frictionless and with the lowest transaction fees available on the market. Its underlying distributed ledger technology will allow the carbon market to scale efficiently to meet global ambitions of Net Zero.
ACX was recognized as the Best Carbon Exchange globally in Environmental Finance’s prestigious Voluntary Carbon Market Rankings, the largest and most closely watched survey of the world’s Voluntary Carbon Market, for two consecutive years (2021, 2022). ACX was also named as the ‘Best Solution in Energy Trading’ by Wired UK and Publicis Sapient at their Global EnergyTech Awards, which spotlighted the companies that are ‘Winning the Race to Reinvent Energy’.
