Demand for high-quality carbon credits is accelerating – and so is the competition to secure them.
At the same time, companies are navigating a world marked by deepening uncertainty – from geopolitical instability and inflation to shifting regulations and increasing scrutiny on corporate climate claims.
In this landscape, sustainability leaders face a dilemma: how to stay ambitious without overexposing their organisations to risk. Sticking with the status quo may feel safer, but forward-looking climate action requires more than short-term compliance. It requires conviction – or, at the very least, a rational strategy that balances opportunity and risk.
This is where a diversified approach to carbon credit procurement becomes essential. Just as financial investors spread risk across asset classes, companies can – and should – diversify their carbon portfolios to ensure resilience, manage costs, and safeguard access to the credits they’ll need in the years ahead.
Experienced carbon buyers are already applying this mindset. They’re not only choosing a mix of nature-based and engineered removals or balancing credits across geographies – they’re also making deliberate choices about how they buy: combining spot credits, offtake agreements and direct investments.
Yet while the market often emphasises the what (type of project, country, or methodology), the how is frequently overlooked. Understanding the role that each procurement model plays – and how they fit together – is crucial to building a credible and future-ready carbon strategy.
This article breaks down the three most common procurement models – spot purchases, multi-year offtake agreements, and direct investments – not as competing choices, but as complementary tools that serve different needs across different time horizons. In an evolving carbon market, each offers trade-offs in pricing, supply security and project influence. When used together, they enable companies to build flexible, future-ready strategies aligned with both credibility and impact.
The big picture: a market under pressure
Companies with serious climate goals aren’t buying any old carbon credits anymore. They're under growing pressure to buy the right credits, those backed by science, transparency, durability and long-term impact for nature and local communities.
While demand for nature-based, high-integrity credits continues to rise, the supply is struggling to keep up. As explained by Axelle Ducos, Land Life’s Chief Growth Officer:
“Most agencies report that at some point in the next two to three years, there will be a supply crunch... and prices will go up. Spot buyers are limited to what’s available – you can only buy what’s in the shop.”
This looming supply squeeze is driving a shift in buyer behaviour. Rather than relying on spot credits each year, many companies are beginning to engage earlier in the project lifecycle – not just to secure credits but also to shape outcomes, manage costs, and support impact.
Buyers are increasingly thinking strategically about how to diversify their carbon procurement models, balancing short-term flexibility with long-term certainty and deeper project engagement.
