Climate Impact X and Carbonplace have agreed to merge, combining a Singapore-based carbon exchange with a London-based carbon settlement platform to build unified infrastructure for global environmental markets.

Climate Impact X, established in 2021 and headquartered in Singapore, is backed by DBS Bank, GenZero, Mizuho Financial Group, Singapore Exchange and Standard Chartered; Carbonplace, established in 2020 and based in London, is backed by BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, National Australia Bank, NatWest Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and UBS.

The structural driver is rising compliance demand under CORSIA and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which is pushing carbon markets toward the kind of connected, auditable settlement infrastructure that underpins traditional financial markets. The combined entity links CIX's exchange, procurement and price discovery tools with Carbonplace's multi-registry access and bank-grade settlement across 14 registries.

The companies first worked together in 2022 on pilot trades settled across both platforms. The merger, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to complete integration in the first quarter of 2027, with both brands continuing to operate separately in the interim and no immediate changes to products or client arrangements.

Oi-Yee Choo, chief executive of CIX, who will lead the combined entity, said scaling carbon market access "requires robust, trusted infrastructure" that works "across voluntary and compliance schemes, and across geographies and standards." Scott Eaton, Carbonplace's chief executive, who becomes president of the combined business, said a carbon trade "is only as good as the infrastructure that completes it," pointing to the need for credits that can be "held securely and retired with a clear audit trail."

The tie-up follows government efforts in Singapore and the UK to reduce fragmentation in carbon markets, including a shared role co-chairing the Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets with Kenya and the UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework.

For the sector, the merger signals that institutional-grade settlement and multi-registry access, rather than exchange volume alone, are becoming the basis on which carbon market infrastructure providers compete as compliance-driven demand scales.

Source: climateimpactx.com