Singapore-based environmental markets exchange Climate Impact X (CIX) and London-based carbon market platform Carbonplace announced today an agreement to merge, in a transaction described by the companies as bridging two of the world’s leading financial and carbon market hubs, backed by a group of global banks and investors.

CIX was launched in 2021 through a joint venture between DBS, Singapore Exchange (SGX), Standard Chartered and Temasek, aimed at offering distinct platforms and products that cater to the needs of different buyers and sellers, leveraging satellite monitoring, machine learning and blockchain technology to enhance the transparency, integrity and quality of carbon credits. The platform operates markets for carbon credits, renewable energy certificates (RECs) and a growing suite of related products, providing infrastructure for carbon and environmental attribute markets.

Carbonplace was launched in July 2021 by a coalition of banks including CIBC, Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank, and Scotland-based NatWest Group, with UBS, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, BBVA and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) joining as founding banks in 2022. The platform provides carbon portfolio management for companies, carbon inventory management for producers, and access to a global carbon credit transactions network for market participants.

The combined shareholder group includes BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, DBS Bank, GenZero, Mizuho Financial Group, National Australia Bank, NatWest Group, SGX Group, Standard Chartered, SMBC and UBS.

According to the companies, the merger comes amidst a “new chapter” in carbon and environmental markets shaped by higher standards for integrity, transparency and accountability, while noting that the potential for markets’ to scale sufficiently to impact climate change mitigation will require the same robust infrastructure that helped traditional financial markets mature.

CIX CEO Oi-Yee Choo said:

“Scaling access and liquidity to meet the growing needs of global carbon markets requires robust, trusted infrastructure. This infrastructure must work across voluntary and compliance schemes, and across geographies and standards.”

The companies noted several distinct but mutually reinforcing capabilities brought together by the merger, including CIX’s suite of procurement, trading and price discovery capabilities, and Carbonplace’s multi-registry infrastructure and secure, bank-grade settlement, which they said will allow the combination to support participants across the full transaction lifecycle from portfolio strategy and project sourcing, through to multi-registry access, settlement, custody and retirement. The companies added that by operating across Singapore and London, the combined entity will be able to serve participants across time zones, regulatory environments and trading communities.

Carbonplace CEO Scott Eaton said:

“A trade is only as good as the infrastructure that completes it – knowing a credit has genuinely changed hands, can be held securely and retired with a clear audit trail. By combining Carbonplace’s multi-registry access and direct ownership model with CIX’s leading exchange, participants can transact with the certainty and auditability institutions expect. That’s where we can make a difference – for the carbon market to succeed, it must scale like financial markets did.”

The combined entity will be led by Oi-Yee Choo as CEO, with Scott Eaton as President. Both businesses will continue to operate under their existing brands during the integration period, which is expected to complete in the first quarter 2027.

Claire O’Neill, Board Chairperson of CIX, said:

“This merger unites two of the world’s leading financial hubs, combining London’s deep institutional capital with Singapore’s dynamic carbon services and trading ecosystem. Our new company will offer customers common market infrastructure that simplifies access to a fragmented carbon market, innovative product development to make sourcing easier and pricing more transparent, and trusted access to a full suite of environmental product solutions.”