Capital markets technology and exchange company Nasdaq announced the launch of the Nasdaq Carbon Academy, a new free educational platform aimed at equipping individuals with skills to integrate carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits into companies’ emissions reduction strategies.

The new academy comes as  demand for carbon offset projects and related credits is expected to increase significantly over the next several years,  as companies utilize credits as a bridge to their absolute emissions reduction efforts, or to balance difficult to avoid emissions, requiring companies to gain expertise in the area, in order to understand the broad range of carbon credit technologies, suppliers and standards, and compare products and assess project quality and reliability.

According to Nasdaq, the new academy includes a series of free, self-paced courses, expert insights, and real-world case studies, designed to equip users with knowledge and tools to integrate carbon removal into emissions and carbon management strategies. In addition to business leaders, Nasdaq said that the academy is suitable for environmental professionals seeking to deepen their knowledge of the use of carbon removal credits, and investors interested in understanding the aspects of carbon markets.

Fredrik Ekström, Head of European Product Strategy and Management at Nasdaq, and Chairman of Puro.earth, said:

“With the launch of this platform, we aim to enhance awareness and education surrounding carbon markets. Nasdaq Carbon Academy provides comprehensive information, from basic to advanced levels, in an accessible and user-friendly format.”

The academy is launching with five courses, including an Introduction to Carbon Dioxide Removal covering the fundamentals of CDR; Carbon Dioxide Removal Concepts covering carbon market nuances, assessment of high quality carbon credit criteria and key market stakeholders; Carbon Dioxide Removal Methodologies, covering various methodologies and evaluation of criteria such as permanence, co-benefits and scalability; Quality, Value, and Aligning Incentives, encompassing factors including the fundamentals of Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) and price influencers in the voluntary carbon market, and; Budgeting, Portfolios, and Contracting, with topics ranging from budgeting considerations, general portfolio evaluation information, contract types and risk considerations.

The new Nasdaq Carbon Academy was developed in collaboration with carbon removal-focused organization AirMiners, based on AirMiners’ Buyers Academy pilot.

Tito Jankowski, CEO of AirMiners said:

“We built this academy so sustainability leaders can go from curious to confident in carbon dioxide removal. I’m excited for the Carbon Academy to support the next wave of sustainability leaders and their teams to take action on their sustainability goals.”