VCM Investment Attractiveness Index

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The VCM Investment Attractiveness Index evaluates and ranks countries on the attractiveness of their voluntary carbon market investment and development opportunities, using indicators reflecting national economic, political and environmental conditions. Explore our ranking of the top 40 countries and find out how the list was compiled.

Top 40 ranking and Index scores

Score

Our methodology

Top 40 breakdown

The Index consists of three pillars, each scored out of 100, with each pillar comprising a series of indicators. Indicator scores are normalised here from one to five. Pillars and indicators have varying weights in determining the overall Index score.

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Rank	Country	Overall score	Global carbon market readiness	Investment landscape	Climate, nature and people opportunity
1	Kenya	78.0	89	66	72
2	Mexico	78.0	88	64	76
3	Peru	73.7	81	47	85
4	Ghana	72.8	83	67	63
5	Malawi	72.6	88	64	56
6	Ethiopia	72.4	84	49	75
7	Cambodia	72.0	81	61	68
8	Bangladesh	71.3	82	55	69
9	Indonesia	69.3	57	62	93
10	Thailand	68.5	65	65	76
11	Mongolia	67.3	82	75	40
12	Viet Nam	67.0	66	74	63
13	Colombia	66.6	60	59	84
14	Nigeria	65.3	60	50	86
15	Madagascar	62.9	58	60	72
16	Nepal	62.7	59	66	65
17	Chile	62.5	58	79	56
18	Uruguay	62.0	67	91	30
19	Guatemala	61.9	58	60	69
20	Uganda	61.8	63	57	64
21	Myanmar	61.6	75	15	81
22	Mozambique	61.5	58	53	73
23	Senegal	60.3	54	71	61
24	Zambia	59.8	59	62	60
25	Honduras	58.4	53	59	66
26	Rwanda	58.4	54	76	50
27	Brazil	57.9	41	49	91
28	Philippines	57.9	42	59	80
29	India	57.6	41	62	79
30	Lao PDR	56.9	52	63	60
31	Papua New Guinea	56.6	48	53	73
32	Costa Rica	54.9	42	83	50
33	Panama	54.8	40	76	59
34	Dominican Rep.	54.6	46	68	56
35	Ecuador	54.1	37	63	72
36	Cameroon	53.6	37	53	79
37	South Africa	53.2	28	64	82
38	China	53.1	35	65	71
39	Pakistan	52.6	49	30	77
40	Bolivia	52.5	37	56	73

Top 40 breakdown

Note: To view the full interactive functionality and additional data of the index open it on a larger screen device.

Rank	Country	Score
1	Kenya	78.0
2	Mexico	78.0
3	Peru	73.7
4	Ghana	72.8
5	Malawi	72.6
6	Ethiopia	72.4
7	Cambodia	72.0
8	Bangladesh	71.3
9	Indonesia	69.3
10	Thailand	68.5
11	Mongolia	67.3
12	Viet Nam	67.0
13	Colombia	66.6
14	Nigeria	65.3
15	Madagascar	62.9
16	Nepal	62.7
17	Chile	62.5
18	Uruguay	62.0
19	Guatemala	61.9
20	Uganda	61.8
21	Myanmar	61.6
22	Mozambique	61.5
23	Senegal	60.3
24	Zambia	59.8
25	Honduras	58.4
26	Rwanda	58.4
27	Brazil	57.9
28	Philippines	57.9
29	India	57.6
30	Lao PDR	56.9
31	Papua New Guinea	56.6
32	Costa Rica	54.9
33	Panama	54.8
34	Dominican Rep.	54.6
35	Ecuador	54.1
36	Cameroon	53.6
37	South Africa	53.2
38	China	53.1
39	Pakistan	52.6
40	Bolivia	52.5

Our methodology

The VCM Investment Attractiveness Index was designed to provide capital allocation risk insights to investors and to aid governments in setting carbon market-friendly policies. It is built around three pillars which analyse countries' investment landscapes, their readiness to engage with new Paris Agreement carbon markets and the opportunity for the VCM to improve environmental and social conditions.

You can also read more on our blog.

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