Japan’s largest polluters are rushing to buy carbon credits ahead of the launch of the country’s mandatory emissions trading system. Trading activity on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has surged as companies prepare for tighter climate rules and try to meet their corporate sustainability targets before the fiscal year ends.
According to Bloomberg, major Japanese companies are already purchasing credits on the TSE’s voluntary market in anticipation of the GX-ETS launch.
This buying spree highlights growing anxiety about future compliance costs. At the same time, it signals that Japan’s carbon market is shifting from a voluntary experiment to a central pillar of its climate strategy.
What Is the GX-ETS and Why Does It Matter
The Green Transformation Emissions Trading System (GX-ETS) is Japan’s national carbon trading program. The government launched it in 2023 under the GX League, a public-private platform designed to accelerate corporate decarbonization.
The GX-ETS mirrors the European Union’s emissions trading system. Companies receive or buy emissions allowances and can trade them. If they emit less than their cap, they can sell extra allowances. If they exceed limits, they must buy more or face penalties.
Timeline and Key Features
Japan is rolling out the GX-ETS in stages:
- Phase 1 (2023–2025): Voluntary participation and market testing
- Phase 2 (2026 onward): Mandatory participation for large emitters
- Future phases: Auctions, price bands, and fuel levies
Japan plans to introduce power sector auctions around 2033 and a fossil fuel importer levy by 2028. Policymakers are also considering price bands of ¥4,000 to ¥6,000 per tonne by 2027, with potential increases by 2030. Significantly, the compliance market will include a price ceiling and phased expansion with additional policy tools.
The system integrates voluntary credits into compliance trading. Companies can trade GX credits via call auctions on the TSE, with unmatched orders carried forward. This design aims to improve liquidity and price discovery.
Japan’s Path to Net-Zero by 2050
Japan made modest progress in reducing emissions in the first half of 2025. The Ministry of the Environment reported a 2.8% decline compared with the same period in 2024. For the full year, emissions are estimated at 1,070 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, down from about 1,272 million tonnes in 1990.
Much of this improvement came from energy efficiency gains in the industrial sector. However, Japan still relies heavily on fossil fuels, and transport emissions remain difficult to reduce. Consequently, current policies are projected to cut emissions by 31% to 37% below 2013 levels by 2030, which still falls short of the country’s 46% national climate target, excluding land-use emissions.
Heavy industries—such as steel, chemicals, cement, and power generation—account for more than 60% of national emissions, making them key GX-ETS targets. Therefore, the GX-ETS is expected to cover roughly 60% of Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions and support the country’s goal of achieving net zero by 2050.
Japan’s carbon tax remains low at about ¥289 per tonne (roughly $2.16), emphasizing the need for stronger market-based mechanisms. As a result, policymakers view the GX-ETS as a critical lever to accelerate emissions reductions and drive the nation toward net-zero.
Who Must Participate in the GX-ETS
Phase 1 of the GX-ETS was voluntary. However, Phase 2 will become mandatory in spring 2026. Companies emitting more than 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year must participate.
This rule affects roughly 300 to 400 companies. Together, they account for about 60% of Japan’s total emissions. Key sectors include steel, chemicals, cement, power generation, automotive manufacturing, and aviation.
Under current proposals, companies can use carbon credits to offset up to 10% of regulated emissions. Therefore, credits complement emissions cuts rather than replace them.
Pre-Compliance Buying Surge Among Big Polluters
Large Japanese companies are buying voluntary credits aggressively before the mandatory launch. TSE officials see strong demand driven by companies preparing for GX-ETS and rushing to retire credits before the fiscal year ends.
Reports also reveal that members of the GX League, such as Toshiba, Tokyo Gas, and Isuzu Motors, have already participated in voluntary trading. Analysts expect steelmakers, utilities, and other heavy industries to dominate future purchases.
This early buying strategy helps companies hedge against future allowance shortages. It also reduces the risk of penalties once compliance rules take effect.
Japan’s Carbon Credits: Demand Soars Ahead of Mandatory GX-ETS
Japan’s carbon credit market is expanding fast. It was valued at about $28.2 billion in fiscal 2023 and could reach more than $121 billion by 2031, growing at roughly 20% annually.
Trading on the TSE began in 2023 and focuses on GX credits, including:
- J-Credits from domestic renewable and efficiency projects
- JCM credits from international projects under Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism
However, demand already exceeds supply. J-Credit issuance averages around 1 million tonnes per year. Analysts expect demand to reach about 3 million tonnes annually once the mandatory phase begins.
Therefore, limited supply could push prices higher and increase compliance costs for heavy emitters.
Carbon Credit Prices and Market Dynamics
Bloomberg also highlighted that carbon credit prices on the TSE have fluctuated as the market matures. Renewable electricity credits peaked at about ¥6,600 per tonne in early 2025. Since then, prices have fallen by nearly 25%.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has proposed a price ceiling of ¥4,300 per tonne for the compliance market. Renewable-linked credits still trade above that level, reflecting strong demand and limited supply. And the prices across voluntary credit categories are converging ahead of the mandatory phase. This trend suggests growing liquidity and market confidence.
Challenges Facing the GX-ETS
Despite strong momentum, several challenges remain. Limited credit supply could push prices higher if demand grows faster than new issuances. Credit quality also poses a risk, as regulators must ensure offsets deliver real and permanent emissions reductions to avoid greenwashing.
At the same time, Japan still depends heavily on coal, gas, and oil, meaning carbon trading alone cannot transform the energy system. Transport emissions also remain a major hurdle, especially in the road and aviation sectors, where decarbonization is progressing slowly.
Past regional trading systems, such as Tokyo’s cap-and-trade program, achieved emissions reductions of around 15% to 27%. However, scaling that success nationwide will require strict enforcement, transparent monitoring, and strong policy support.
Strategic Role of Carbon Credits in Japan’s Transition
For hard-to-abate sectors such as steel and power, carbon credits provide a temporary bridge while low-carbon technologies mature. Companies can offset a small share of emissions while investing in hydrogen, electrification, and carbon capture.
Early purchases also hedge against future price spikes. If allowance supply tightens, companies holding credits will face lower compliance costs.
Globally, Japan wants J-Credits to align with international carbon markets and potential EU carbon border rules. This strategy could strengthen Japan’s role in Article 6 carbon trading frameworks.
In conclusion, the surge in carbon credit buying shows Japanese companies are taking the GX-ETS seriously. The market is transitioning from a voluntary pilot to a compliance-driven system that will shape corporate strategies for decades.
As climate pressures mount, Japan must close the gap between current policies and its 2030 target. The GX-ETS could become one of the country’s most powerful tools to drive emissions cuts, attract investment, and accelerate clean energy deployment.
However, success depends on credit supply, price stability, and strong governance. Industry analysts and experts suggest early credit buying reflects corporate hedging strategies as Japan’s carbon market moves toward full compliance.
If Japan manages these challenges, the GX-ETS could transform its carbon market and set a model for other Asian economies.
The post Japan’s GX-ETS Sparks Carbon Credit Surge as Major Polluters Prep for Compliance appeared first on Carbon Credits.
Insetting program design starts with your supplier map. The carbon claim comes much later.
Consider a coffee procurement team that funds a farm intervention before checking its sourcing data. The supplier aggregates coffee lots from several regions. The buyer lacks farm-level traceability. Another purchaser expects to report the same outcome. A more attractive project brochure solves none of these problems.
If the distinction between a value-chain intervention and a purchased credit is still open, read CCC’s Insetting vs Offsetting guide before you set the brief.
Insetting program design begins with the purchasing relationship and works outward. You need to decide 1) where an intervention belongs, 2) what business problem it addresses, 3) who pays for it, 4) how results will be measured, and 5) what the evidence will let you say about them. This five-step playbook turns that sequence into a procurement plan.
Step 1: Insetting program design starts with supplier mapping
Start with the commodities that matter most to your Scope 3 inventory and sourcing continuity. Ask finance for spend by supplier, sustainability for the emissions baseline, and category managers for origin and volume records. Then identify which suppliers can trace material to a jurisdiction, sourcing region, producer group, or individual land-management unit.
The level of traceability affects what you can account for. Under the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard, the spatial boundary for purchased land-based products depends on the traceability associated with each volume. Farm-specific factors or removals require physical traceability through an acceptable chain-of-custody model. A contract with a tier-one trader, by itself, does not establish a link to the farms behind its deliveries.[1]
Build a first-pass table with five columns: commodity and annual volume; supplier and origin; current traceability level; land-use and production risks; and the business owner who can change the purchasing terms. Mark missing data plainly. A blank cell is cheaper to fix before a program starts than after a claim is drafted.
If your company sets an SBTi Forest, Land and Agriculture target (FLAG), keep its land-related target boundary separate from energy and industry emissions. The current FLAG guidance also requires relevant companies to assess primary deforestation-linked commodities in their value chains.[2]
Step 2: Choose a commodity and jurisdiction for a pilot
Select one supply corridor where the sourcing connection can be established and procurement has a reason to stay. A useful pilot has repeat purchases, suppliers willing to share records, an intervention matched to a diagnosed problem, and a defined plan to measure the result. Carbon potential alone is a poor selection rule if the supplier cannot deliver the crop your business needs.
Compare candidate regions on land-use risk, supplier concentration, local rights and tenure, the availability of baseline data, and exposure to drought, erosion, or forest conversion. Check the relevant legal requirements separately. A nature project does not satisfy a due-diligence obligation merely because it has a carbon method attached.
Consider a coffee buyer sourcing from two districts. In the first, producer-group records identify the farms, while recent dry seasons have increased rejected green coffee lots. In the second, deliveries pass through several intermediaries and farm origins are unknown. Pilot shade management in the first district, with local agronomic advice and quality checks built into the plan. The buyer can trace purchases there and test the intervention against a defined sourcing problem.
Use a short decision memo to record why the selected corridor beats the alternatives, what remains uncertain, and what would stop the pilot. That memo is the first control against a project drifting toward whatever happens to photograph well.
Step 3: Design the supplier engagement and commercial model
The intervention needs an owner on each side of the contract. Decide who supplies planting material or training, who maintains the practice, who bears the cost if a harvest disappoints, and how long the buyer expects to purchase from participating suppliers. Where smallholders participate, budget cash flow and technical support for practices that offer a later return.
Put these terms in a supplier agreement or pilot addendum. It should cover eligible farms and volumes, consent to data collection, access for monitoring, any land or carbon rights that matter, benefit sharing, and what happens if the purchasing relationship ends. Ask local counsel and producer representatives to review the arrangement. The Accountability Framework is a useful reference for supply-chain work involving forests, ecosystems, and human rights.[3]
Avoid assigning an automatic carbon benefit to the buyer. The contract should say which party has the right to report each outcome, how overlapping claims will be checked, and how any issued credits will be handled. A reduction reported in a buyer’s inventory cannot simply be sold for someone else’s offset claim without an accounting review. SBTi FLAG guidance excludes purchased credits used as offsets from near-term FLAG target achievement.[2]
Set commercial measures beside environmental ones: delivered volume, rejection rate, supplier retention, and procurement cost. They tell you whether the program works as a supply-chain investment, even if carbon accounting takes longer to resolve.
Step 4: Build monitoring, reporting, and verification before rollout
Agree on the baseline and data flow before paying for a full rollout. Identify the land units or sourcing regions in scope, the practices that change, the records suppliers already keep, and the additional measurements the program requires. Decide which data can come from field visits, transaction records, or remote sensing, and who checks each source.
For carbon, separate three questions. Did the practice happen? Did emissions or removals change under an applicable method? Can the buyer attribute a defensible share to its purchased goods without double counting? The GHG Protocol’s 2026 guidance includes dedicated chapters on spatial boundaries, data and methods, evaluating actions, credited outcomes, and assurance.[1] These are distinct jobs. A photograph of a planted tree answers only part of the first.
CCC’s MRV and Additionality article explains the separate evidence questions a project reviewer will ask.
Create an evidence file for every reporting period: dated supplier and farm records, purchase volumes, methods and emission factors, uncertainty, quality checks, and changes from the baseline. Specify who can challenge the data and how corrections are recorded. If a project also seeks credit certification, keep project accounting and corporate inventory accounting separate. The GHG Protocol says its land standard focuses on entity-level inventories and does not set the rules for credit certification.[4]
Start with the minimum viable measurement design that can survive review. Add complexity when the pilot tells you which data actually changes a decision.
Step 5: Decide what can be reported and claimed
Insetting program design needs reporting rules before the marketing copy. Procurement, sustainability, finance, and legal should agree on four distinct outputs: operational performance; observed land or nature outcomes; inventory effects, if the accounting criteria are met; and any separately issued credits. One dashboard can display them, but they should not share a single unqualified headline.
SBTi FLAG guidance allows certain land-based removals within a company’s operations or supply chain to contribute to FLAG pathways, subject to criteria including permanence, traceability, data quality, and allocation. It does not allow purchased offsets to meet near-term FLAG targets.[2] Eligibility therefore depends on evidence and the applicable target rules, not on calling an activity “insetting.”
Draft a claims register. For each proposed sentence, record the period, boundary, data owner, calculation method, reviewer, and whether the result is measured, estimated, or still a goal. If the evidence supports only “we funded a pilot with 200 farms,” say that. Do not turn a funding fact into a verified emissions reduction.
What good looks like by year three
Treat year three as a review point, not a promised payback date. A mature pilot should have mapped participating supply volumes, a stable supplier agreement, a repeatable data collection process, and a comparison of commercial and environmental results against the baseline. It should also have a documented answer for outcomes that cannot be included in the buyer’s inventory.
Scale only where the pilot improves a sourcing decision and the evidence can follow the product. If neither condition holds, redesign the intervention or change the corridor. A disciplined program can conclude that a site is unsuitable. That is useful procurement intelligence.
Discuss your insetting program with CCC
Carbon Credit Capital designs nature-based supply chain investments around sourcing needs and measurable sustainability outcomes. Schedule a consultation with our carbon and sustainability experts to map your tier-one supplier network, FLAG exposure, and first pilot decision.
Sources
[1] GHG Protocol, Land Sector and Removals Standard, version 1.1, and companion Guidance, June 2026: https://ghgprotocol.org/land-sector-and-removals-standard ; https://ghgprotocol.org/land-sector-and-removals-guidance
[2] Science Based Targets initiative, Forest, Land and Agriculture Science-Based Target-Setting Guidance, version 1.2, March 2026, especially pp. 16–17, 37, and 41: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/resources/files/SBTiFLAGGuidance.pdf
[3] Accountability Framework initiative, Accountability Framework and guidance for companies: https://accountability-framework.org/
[4] GHG Protocol, Frequently Asked Questions: Land Sector and Removals Standard, questions 10 and 18: https://ghgprotocol.org/blog/frequently-asked-questions-land-sector-and-removals-lsr-standard
Nature-based carbon investments deserve consideration when they address a specific business dependency and produce outcomes you can measure. Imagine Moonbucks, a global coffee roaster planning next season’s espresso blend. It is considering natural Grade 4 coffee from Jimma, in southwestern Oromia, Ethiopia. Its sourcing decisions affect the roasting schedule and the cash tied up in coffee purchases. Moonbucks needs to understand which measures could protect that supply, what they would cost and how it would judge the results.
1. Define the sourcing problem before choosing a project
Moonbucks needs a dependable component for its espresso blend. Its procurement team wants continuity of volume and an agreed cup profile. Replacing a shipment at short notice could require new sample approval and changes to the blend, and given the schedules for cultivation, processing, and freight delivery, is practically impossible. Moonbucks needs to get this right, and its initial concern is inconsistent deliveries. It commissions an assessment of the supplying farms and post-harvest chain. The questions cover land condition, harvest availability and whether drying or storage problems are affecting saleable lots.
This distinction changes the investment brief. A tree-planting proposal cannot be assumed to fix drying problems. Better storage cannot restore eroded land. The team must establish which problem exists before selecting the response.
CCC’s guide to finding nature-based solutions in your supply chain explains where to look. Here, the next task is to turn a broad concern into a testable proposal.
2. Develop nature-based carbon investments around the actual supply chain
The assessment would trace Moonbucks’ purchases back through the exporter and supplying producer groups. Which farms supply the contracted lots? Who controls land-management decisions? How long does the buyer expect to maintain the purchasing relationship?
Furthermore, Jimma natural Grade 4 cannot be treated as interchangeable with every Ethiopian coffee. Moonbucks would need to test any substitute against its own blend and quality requirements.
Suppose Moonbucks’ assessment identifies an opportunity to maintain shade trees and restore vegetation along exposed streambanks. The IPCC describes agroforestry as a way to store carbon in vegetation and soil, with potential benefits for erosion control and water quality.1 Moonbucks would need local advice on species, growing conditions and maintenance before deciding how these measures fit its sourcing plan.
The proposal now has a defined sourcing connection and a candidate intervention. The next steps are to test its effect on production, assess carbon eligibility and build the financial case.
3. Compare the proposal with other ways to protect supply
WBCSD’s Nature-based Solutions Blueprint recommends comparing nature-based options with other responses across their benefits and costs.2 For Moonbucks, that means evaluating the landscape proposal alongside drying improvements, storage controls and alternative sourcing arrangements.
The product’s natural-process designation matters. Moonbucks should examine the drying and dry-milling chain alongside land conditions. Its team would check storage practices, contamination risks and incoming-lot quality to see whether problems arise before or after the coffee leaves the farms.
The revised proposal might combine land stewardship with separate post-harvest controls. Each component needs its own purpose and budget. A sustainability label should not obscure which activity is expected to solve which problem.
The project develops as the evidence improves. Its scope should follow the diagnosis rather than preserve the first idea unchanged.
4. Establish what the carbon outcome could count toward
Moonbucks’ sustainability team now tests the proposed carbon case separately from the sourcing case. Is the objective a measurable change in Moonbucks’ value-chain emissions, verified credits for separate voluntary use, or distinct outcomes under carefully defined arrangements?
Scope 3 covers value-chain emissions. A purchasing relationship alone does not prove that a farm intervention can be included in Moonbucks’ inventory. The team needs an applicable accounting method, defensible boundaries and evidence supporting attribution.
SBTi’s FLAG Guidance (forest, land and agriculture), version 1.2, says purchased credits used as offsets cannot meet near-term FLAG or energy and industry targets. Eligible land-based removals are subject to accounting requirements.3 Moonbucks needs to test its proposal against those rules before including an outcome in its targets.
For Moonbucks’ Jimma proposal, maintaining existing trees and establishing new vegetation could involve different carbon questions. Specialists must examine the baseline and additionality, meaning what changes because the project proceeds. They must also assess measurement and the risk that stored carbon is lost. CCC’s MRV and additionality article introduces those tests.
Until that work is complete, Moonbucks should not budget an assumed Scope 3 reduction or credit-sale receipt. Direct emissions reductions remain the priority.
5. Build a financial case that survives weaker assumptions
Moonbucks’ finance team would now build a multi-year budget. UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature 2023 compares current finance with the investment needed to meet climate, biodiversity and land-restoration goals.4 The company would cost its proposed activities, farmer participation and ongoing monitoring. Verification, where required, is a separate expense. Maintenance and responsibility for replacing failed plantings must remain visible after the initial establishment budget ends.
Operational benefits need equally careful treatment. If fewer rejected lots reduce emergency purchasing, count that saving once. Do not add “supply resilience” as another financial benefit when it represents the same avoided cost.
Moonbucks should compare a base case with slower benefits, higher implementation costs and no carbon revenue. It should also distinguish production outcomes from quality and shipment outcomes. A single good harvest would not prove that the landscape intervention caused better delivery performance.
A project can remain worth funding even when its carbon case needs more work. That decision must rest on the operational evidence and the company’s objectives, without unsupported environmental claims.
6. Fund a pilot with a clear expansion decision
Moonbucks’ first approval would fund a bounded pilot, rather than commit the entire sourcing program. Before spending, Moonbucks would agree on participating farms, responsibilities and the evidence needed at review.
Its scorecard could track farmer participation, implementation costs and plant survival, alongside accepted coffee volumes and lot-quality results. Carbon measurements would follow the selected method. Farm-level traceability must connect the intervention to the actual sourcing relationship.
Suppose Moonbucks’ review later finds that storage changes explain most quality improvements, while the land measures need longer observation. Those findings would shape the next decision: expand the proven component, adjust the landscape work or pause further spending. They would not justify crediting all improvements to tree planting.
This gives nature-based carbon investments a practical place in a multi-year strategy. Funding increases as the evidence supports it, and the project can change direction before a larger commitment.
Discuss a sourcing opportunity with CCC
Carbon Credit Capital’s nature-based supply-chain investment service uses its Dual-Value Model to examine supply-chain economics alongside potential sustainability outcomes.
Schedule a consultation to discuss your sourcing exposure and the questions to resolve before allocating capital.
Sources
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change, Chapter 7, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses, section 7.4.3.3 (Agroforestry).
- World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Nature-based Solutions Blueprint, 5 June 2024.
- Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Forest, Land and Agriculture Science-Based Target-Setting Guidance, version 1.2, March 2026, section 3.1.4, pp. 37–38.
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), State of Finance for Nature 2023, 2023.
A plastic credit funds the collection of plastic waste in places where no formal system exists to collect it. Each credit represents a measured, independently audited quantity of plastic taken out of the environment or returned to use, tracked on a public registry.
