About This Article
Welcome to our monthly update on the voluntary carbon market. This month, we delve into the world of carbon credit retirements, highlighting significant activities and noteworthy trends we've observed in March 2025.
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Retirement Records For This Month
Let’s dive into records for this month!
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Please note that:
The dataset only includes records from the following voluntary carbon credit registries, which are publicly available on their website: American Carbon Registry (ACR), ART TREES (ART), Climate Action Reserve (CAR), Gold Standard (GLD), and Verra (VCS).
We have only included records where the retirement quantity is equal to or greater than 1,000 tonnes of CO2e.
The company assigned to each retirement record was determined based on the information present in each individual note.
Sector information is categorized in reference to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) to align each entry with the most likely respective industry.
Key Takeaways
Let's highlight some of the significant trends from this month’s retirement records:
Grab's Continued Carbon Offset Initiative: Singapore-based Grab Holdings and its regional subsidiaries (Grabtaxi Thailand, GrabCar Malaysia, GrabCar Singapore, Grab Cambodia) executed numerous retirements throughout March, totaling well over 200,000 tonnes. These consistently reference their "Carbon Offset Initiative 2024" and predominantly utilize credits from the VCS1650 (Keo Seima REDD+) project in Cambodia, spanning vintages from 2018 to 2021. This indicates a large-scale, programmatic approach to offsetting, likely linked to their ride-hailing and delivery services.
VistaJet's Massive Client-Driven Retirements: Private aviation company VistaJet was exceptionally active, retiring hundreds of thousands of credits across numerous projects and registries (VCS, GLD). Retirements spanned projects like VCS487 (Musi Hydro, Indonesia), VCS1382 (Envira Amazonia, Brazil), VCS1718 (Inner Mongolia IFM, China), VCS486 (Sipansihaporas Hydro, Indonesia), VCS2464 (Nanning LFG, China), VCS2897 (Forest Conservation, Cameroon), GLD1350 (Taiwan Wind), and various cookstove projects (GLD10790, GLD11209, GLD5033, etc.). The consistent retirement reason is "Retired on behalf of VistaJet clients," highlighting a significant demand for offsetting within the private aviation sector, likely offered as a service to their clientele.
Compliance and Specific Corporate Goals Drive Retirements:
Enviroserv Waste Management (South Africa) retired credits from its VCS2601 (Chloorkop Landfill Gas) project specifically "in accordance with Section 13 of the South African Carbon Tax Act," showcasing direct linkage between voluntary market activity and national compliance mechanisms.
Hilti Corporation (Liechtenstein) made multiple retirements from Kenyan cookstove projects (GLD11432, GLD11603) explicitly for compensating "Scope 1, 2 and business travel emissions" for 2024 and 2025.
University of Maryland (USA) continued its offsetting program, retiring credits from various US-based landfill gas and forestry projects (VCS450, VCS441, CAR1480, CAR838, ACR818) to offset Scope 1 and 3 emissions for 2024 and H1 2025.
AXA XL (USA) retired significant volumes from the ACR519 (Cold Hollow Carbon IFM) project to offset a portion of its Fiscal 2023 GHG emissions.
Maple Leaf Foods (Canada) retired credits from diverse US projects (VCS2535, CAR475, CAR838, ACR915) under its "Carbon Neutral" initiative.
Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia) retired credits from various global projects (incl. VCS3207 CarbonCure, VCS2635 Geothermal China, VCS2458 Grassland China, GLD2525 Composting Vietnam, GLD2940 Afforestation Panama) linked to its "Aramco Low Carbon Arab Light Pilot Project".
Summary charts on amounts retired sorted by sector and country are below:
Amount retired in Mar. 2025 by sector and country
If you are a subscriber, you can find a complete list of retirement records with the project information for this month, as well as a chart of the top companies that retired the most credits, in the Google Spreadsheet at the bottom of this article.
Downloading and copy-pasting are disabled even for subscribers. If you want to download the file, please purchase Excel file from the link below:
The dataset includes:
General company information
Company Name (who most likely retired the credit based on the retirement note)
Country of the company
URL
Sector (GICS Code base)
Industry Group (GICS Code base)
Company Description
Retirement record
Project ID
Quantity
Retirement Account (CAR, ACR, ART) / Retirement Beneficiary (VCS, GLD)
Retirement Note
Retirement Reason
Transaction Date
Transaction Type
Vintage
Project information about the retired credit
Project Category
Project Country
Project's First Issuance
Project's First Retirement
Total Amount Issued
Project Name
Project URL
Project Proponent
Project protocol
Total Amount Retired
Status
Below is a link to the dataset for subscribers and top companies that retired credits.
Amount retired in Mar. 2025 by company
Stay Informed
The world of carbon credits is constantly evolving, so we'll continue to provide regular updates, insights and analysis as it happens.
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Disclaimer
The information provided in this carbon credit retirement database is intended for informational purposes only. While we strive to ensure the accuracy of the data, we cannot guarantee its completeness or correctness. The data is compiled from publicly available sources and may be subject to errors, omissions, or updates not yet reflected in our records.
No Warranty: The information provided is "as is" without any warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.
Reliance: Any reliance you place on the information provided is strictly at your own risk. We recommend that you verify the data from other reliable sources before making any decisions based on the content of this database.
Independent Judgment: Users should exercise their own independent judgment when interpreting and using the information in this database. We are not responsible for any actions, consequences, or losses that may result from your use of this data.
Interpretation of Data: The analysis presented in the newsletter is based on our independent assessment of available information, and may not align with the viewpoints of other parties.
Registry Scope: Note that the dataset is limited to the following voluntary carbon credit registries: American Carbon Registry (ACR), ART TREES (ART), Climate Action Reserve (CAR), Gold Standard (GLD), and Verra (VCS). Retirements from other registries are not included in this analysis.
Data Aggregation: The aggregation of data, including identification of retiring companies and classification of sector information, is based on our interpretation of available notes and alignment with GICS codes. These interpretations are based on our own discretion and may be subject to varying perspectives.
Limitation of Liability: In no event will we, our employees, or partners be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to, loss of profits, data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from your use or inability to use the data, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Changes: The database and newsletter may be subject to updates, modifications, or removal at any time without prior notice. We will do our best to ensure accurate representation of current retirement data, but assume no obligation to update data after each publication.
By accessing or using the provided database and information, you agree to the terms of this disclaimer.