Podcast - Cracking Down on Carbon Markets: CFTC and FTC Exercise Heightened Scrutiny
The voluntary carbon credit ("VCC") market has become increasingly important in achieving net-zero goals for companies. However, the market has recently undergone scrutiny after reports of ineffective VCCs. Recent parallel...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) has inserted itself in recent years into efforts to scale the cash market for “high integrity” voluntary carbon credits. On September 20, 2024, the Commission...more
On September 19, 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved final guidance regarding the listing of voluntary carbon credit (VCC) derivative contracts (the Final Guidance). The Final Guidance—which...more
The Federal U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered an Order granting summary judgement for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on July 1, 2024 and ordered $83 million in restitution and...more
On July 31, 2024, nine Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate wrote a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (“CFTC”) Chairman in support of the proposed guidance regarding the listing of voluntary...more
On May 28 2024, the Biden administration released the “Voluntary Carbon Markets Joint Policy Statement and Principles”. This is one of a number of recent international initiatives to “shore up” the voluntary carbon markets...more
On Friday, March 15, 2024, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Market Risk Advisory Committee (“MRAC”) convened two roundtables in Washington DC....more
During 2023 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) engaged in several regulatory actions aimed at further clarifying its jurisdictional reach over environmental commodity markets generally and the voluntary carbon...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued proposed guidance (the Proposed Guidance) regarding the listing of voluntary carbon credit (VCC) derivatives on CFTC-regulated exchanges on Dec. 4, 2023. The CFTC's goal...more
This episode of the "Eyes on Washington" podcast series by Holland & Knight's Public Policy & Regulation Group is presented by attorneys Halley Townsend, Andy Kriha and Alex Holtan of the firm's Greenwashing Mitigation Team....more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have recently and aggressively signaled their intent to ramp up enforcement activity regarding the use of carbon offsets to make environmental...more
The voluntary carbon market is rapidly growing to match the increasing focus by corporate leaders on ESG efforts and net-zero goals. In 2021, the voluntary carbon market reached $2 billion, and by some estimates may be worth...more
Many major companies have announced a blueprint to minimize their carbon footprint. Some companies have gone so far as to proclaim that they will achieve “net zero” emissions in the near future. To accomplish their climate...more
The energy industry and market participants have provided a variety of comments on what role the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should play in the voluntary carbon markets, in response to a June 2022 request for...more