By Abbas Nazil
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and BeZero Carbon have launched a global partnership to enhance developing countries’ participation in high-integrity carbon markets.
The collaboration, formalized through a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding, aims to improve access to data, tools, and technical resources that support credible carbon crediting and informed climate policymaking.
Carbon markets are considered a key mechanism for mobilizing private climate finance at scale, essential for meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Despite their potential, many developing countries face major barriers to participation, including limited technical capacity, fragmented standards, and poor data availability. COP30 highlighted the scale of the finance challenge, estimating that $3.2 trillion annually will be needed by 2035 to meet global climate and development targets, with $1.3 trillion coming from external finance.
Independent carbon rating agencies are increasingly recognized as vital for improving transparency and trust in carbon markets. These agencies assess the integrity of credits, ensuring they represent real, additional, verifiable, and permanent emissions reductions while avoiding double counting and maintaining strong social and environmental safeguards.
BeZero Carbon, a leading independent rating agency, uses geospatial analysis, data science, and technical expertise to evaluate project-level risks and performance in both voluntary and compliance markets. Its ratings are already used by governments including Switzerland and Singapore as part of Article 6 due diligence.
Under the partnership, BeZero will provide UNDP teams with full access to its platform, including project-level ratings, risk indicators, and sector-wide analyses, strengthening policy advice and national carbon market strategies.
The collaboration also includes co-developing knowledge materials and capacity-building resources tailored to country needs, helping governments design carbon market frameworks aligned with development priorities and delivering tangible benefits to local communities.
This initiative aims to increase participation in carbon markets, improve transparency, and ensure that high-integrity credits support sustainable development outcomes globally.
