On September 10, 2025, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission withdrew guidance--promulgated by the Biden Administration in September 2024--concerning the market for voluntary carbon credits. Specifically, the CFTC stated that it was withdrawing the voluntary carbon credit guidance because it "provides limited value" and because it "placed a disproportionate focus on a particular class of derivative contracts"--i.e., contracts concerning carbon credits. Rather, the CFTC stated that a "uniform regulatory framework"--without guidance specifically concerning carbon credits--"best serves market transparency, expectations, fairness, and integrity."
This development is aligned with the broader de-regulatory impetus of the Trump Administration, and, in particular, its quest to undo or remove climate-changed focused rules promulgated by regulators under the Biden Administration. Thus, the action here--revoking CFTC guidance concerning voluntary carbon credits--is altogether predictable. Nonetheless, the withdrawal of this specific guidance is certainly significant, as is the indication that the effort of the Trump Administration to rollback climate change-focused regulations continues to proceed.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has withdrawn Biden-era guidelines that were intended to foster transparency and deter manipulation in the emerging market for voluntary carbon credits. The guidelines, released in September 2024, were for derivatives exchanges, also known as designated contract markets, that list voluntary carbon credits. The guidelines encouraged the DCMs to assess the environmental benefits associated with the credits. But the commission on Wednesday said the guidelines provide only "limited value to DCMs when listing [voluntary carbon credits] derivatives contracts."
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