Intercontinental Exchange, a leading global provider of technology and data, announced that a record number of environmental contracts traded on ICE in 2024, equivalent to over $1 trillion in notional value for the fourth consecutive year.

A record 20.4 million environmental futures and options contracts traded on ICE in 2024, up approximately 40% year-over-year (y/y) along with record average daily volume and participation.

ICE’s EU Carbon Allowance (EUA) futures and options, which represents the world’s most liquid carbon derivatives market, and U.K. Carbon Allowance (UKA) futures and options each reached record participation in 2024 and physically delivered carbon allowances worth $40 billion.

Across ICE’s North American environmental markets, a record 5.6 million futures and options traded in 2024, with a record $12.3 billion physically delivered. ICE’s California Carbon Allowance (CCA) market hit record traded volume in 2024 of 3.9 million contracts, up 68% y/y.

“For the last twenty years, ICE has worked to create a truly interconnected global network of energy and environmental markets to allow customers to meet their emissions obligations and environmental price risk on a single platform,” said Gordon Bennett, Managing Director, Utility Markets at ICE. “At ICE we are working hard to develop scalable carbon credit markets, including CORSIA, the first global market-based carbon credit program targeted at reducing emissions from international aviation.”

Reflecting how many carbon markets are expanding their scope and coverage, the European Union has created a new emissions trading scheme named ETS 2 to cover carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion in buildings and road transport. To help the market manage carbon price risk in these new sectors, ICE plans to launch EUA 2 futures on May 6, 2025, subject to regulatory approval.

Since launch, 166 billion carbon allowances, 6 billion carbon credits, 588 million renewable energy certificates, and the equivalent of 21.2 billion Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) have traded across ICE’s global environmental portfolio.

Source: ICE