Statement by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen on Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Final Guidance on Voluntary Carbon Markets

WASHINGTON —U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Janet L. Yellen released the following statement on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) final guidance regarding the listing of voluntary carbon credit derivative contracts. 

“I commend Chair Behnam and the CFTC for the release of their final guidance to support high-integrity voluntary carbon markets (VCMs). The CFTC’s guidance will promote the integrity of carbon credits and enable greater liquidity and price transparency. I look forward to continued collaboration with the CFTC and other government agencies involved in shaping the development of responsible, high-functioning, and high-integrity VCMs as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious efforts to tackle the climate crisis and accelerate a clean energy transition that benefits all Americans.”

This final guidance comes a few months after the Department of the Treasury and Biden-Harris Administration released the Voluntary Carbon Markets Joint Policy Statement and Principles, which emphasized the importance of credit and market integrity in VCMs.

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