A new alliance has been formed by the European Union, China, and Brazil with the intention of boosting global carbon markets before the commencement of international climate negotiations.

The coalition, which has been dubbed the Open Coalition on Compliance Carbon Markets, was formed in Florence, Italy, during a meeting of the three economic blocs' representatives. The coalition seeks to enhance collaboration regarding carbon pricing schemes, emission trading systems, and carbon accounting approaches.

The coalition will seek to enhance monitoring, reporting, and verification schemes, otherwise referred to as MRV systems. It will also seek to enhance common carbon accounting approaches and stringent carbon offset standards. The governments representing the three economies stated that the move is intended to boost transparency in carbon trading systems.

This comes as the next round of international climate negotiations, following COP30, which took place in Belém, Brazil, in 2025. Carbon pricing schemes have emerged as an integral part of climate policies in many countries, with close to 80 schemes currently in existence across the globe.

Germany and New Zealand have become members of the coalition, and other countries will become members at a later date. The first two years of the coalition will be chaired by Brazil, with China and the European Commission serving as co-chairs.

The coalition is expected to look into how it can narrow the disparities that exist in national carbon markets and make the compliance frameworks compatible. Divergence in accounting principles and verification mechanisms has been a problem with the international carbon trade.

According to the European Commission, the coalition is open to all countries that have national carbon pricing mechanisms, whether emissions trading schemes or carbon taxes. Regional governments with carbon pricing systems will be allowed to participate as observers.

The next meeting of the coalition will take place in Wuhan, China, in September 2026.