Countries at the United Nations climate conference approved rules for a marketplace that would help fund projects to fight climate change, potentially unleashing billions of dollars in spending.
The vote at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, opens the door for both nations and companies to invest in projects such as preserving trees in South America or replacing polluting cookstoves with cleaner ones in Africa.
It would operate separately from the voluntary carbon market, a loosely knit system where corporations put money into climate-focused efforts to meet sustainability goals or to appease shareholders.
But a market backed by the U.N. is significant, said Alessandro Vitelli, spokesperson with IETA, a nonprofit that represents businesses pursuing the goals of the Paris Agreement.
