Market Makers
Market Design and Innovation Blog
The Slow Drift from Market to Mandate
Governments reached for market mechanisms in climate policy for a good reason: a price aggregates dispersed information no central planner can assemble, which makes a genuine market the best tool we have for a problem as vast as decarbonizing an economy, and central planning close to the worst. But program by program, these markets have been fitted with controls: ceilings, floors, quantity adjustments, origin rules, multipliers. Each one is defensible on its own. Together they are quietly converting instruments built to discover prices into instruments that administer them, with a trading layer left on top to preserve the look of a market.
August 13, 2026
National Carbon Credit Framework: An Invitation to Design a Functional Market
Canada's carbon markets have long suffered from fragmentation, with credits confined to provincial silos and trades settled bilaterally with limited price transparency or post-trade protection. The Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement, signed July 2, 2026, signals for the first time that Ottawa wants to build the infrastructure to connect those systems rather than simply harmonize their rules. Neutral Markets believes a Universal Carbon Offset, cleared through a central counterparty clearinghouse, is the most effective way to make that vision work. This post explains why, and what a well-designed national carbon market could look like.
July 3, 2026
Rethinking Carbon Compliance Markets
Governments increasingly turn to market mechanisms to drive societal change, from reducing emissions to promoting renewable energy adoption. However, simply permitting a market to exist isn't enough; it demands deliberate market design and robust infrastructure to function effectively. This ensures that the price signals generated lead to a positive feedback loop of investments in sustainable technologies and practices, aligning economic incentives with environmental goals and preventing market failures that could otherwise derail progress.
November 25, 2025
A Late Summer Commentary on Alberta Electricity Prices
Guest Contributor Sheldon Fulton, President of Forte Business Solutions, provides his commentary on recent pricing in Alberta electricity markets and the process and timeline for a market redesign.
August 28, 2024
The Need for Market Data
Commodity markets at all stages of evolution share one common factor: the need for data. Yet, by count, most commodity markets operate in the absence of all but basic fundamentals data, and even that data tends to often be too slow, irregular or occasionally too suspect to support market growth. Think about how many commodities are traded every day but are nearly impossible to access high-quality (timely, accurate and reliable) data for? The easy answer is that these markets are not liquid, but then you have to ask yourself if the markets are illiquid because market data is opaque and of low quality.
March 18, 2024