Unlike a compliance carbon market, companies and individuals involved in a voluntary carbon market do so voluntarily and at their own discretion. Developers decide voluntarily to develop projects that issue carbon credits, while companies or organisations that purchase these credits do so for various internal reasons. Since there is no official regulator for the voluntary carbon market, many voluntary standards have emerged that aim to regulate the activities of suppliers and buyers who choose to sign up to them.

Carbon Market Watch analyses voluntary carbon markets and assesses the validity of corporate claims surrounding VCM investments.