As countries increasingly look to carbon markets to support climate and development goals, many are facing a common challenge: building the legal and regulatory foundations needed to participate effectively and credibly in these markets.
To help address this gap, the World Bank has launched the Legal and Regulatory Reforms Toolkit for High-Integrity Carbon Markets, a practical resource designed to support developing countries in establishing robust institutional, legal, and regulatory frameworks for carbon markets. The publication was launched at the Innovate4Climate conference in Singapore in May 2026.
The resource focuses on baseline-and-crediting mechanisms, including voluntary carbon markets and international carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. It provides practical guidance to help countries navigate issues such as governance arrangements, authorization processes, regulatory oversight, registries, legal definitions, and institutional coordination.
Recognizing that countries have different legal systems, governance structures, and policy priorities, it presents a range of legislative and regulatory options, highlighting advantages, disadvantages, and emerging good practices. It also includes sample legal provisions that countries can adapt to their national contexts.
“High-integrity carbon markets require strong legal and regulatory foundations,” said Flavia Rosembuj from the legal department of the World Bank. “This Toolkit is designed to help countries strengthen legal certainty, reduce transaction risks, and build confidence among market participants while ensuring alignment with international obligations under the Paris Agreement.”
The publication forms part of the World Bank’s broader support to client countries on carbon markets, including financing, technical assistance, institutional capacity building, and support for market infrastructure. As markets evolve, this work aims to help countries strengthen readiness, improve institutional coordination, and create enabling environments for high-integrity carbon market participation.
Alongside the report, the launch also includes an AI-powered chatbot designed to help policymakers, technical experts, and practitioners navigate complex legal and institutional questions related to carbon markets, drawing directly from the publication’s analysis and guidance.
The Legal and Regulatory Reforms Toolkit for High-Integrity Carbon Markets was developed with financial support from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL), the Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF), the Carbon Initiative for Development (Ci-Dev), and the Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions (SCALE) program.
Download the toolkit
Download the Executive Summary
Check out the Carbon Markets Legal Chatbot
Note: The AI-powered chatbot is designed to support exploration of the publication and related legal and regulatory concepts. Users should independently review and verify outputs against the report and other authoritative sources before relying on them for policy or legal decision-making.