Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. announced that it has launched a Nature-Based Solutions carbon credit futures contract (NBS future). The NBS future, which trades under the contract code NBT, physically delivers Verified Carbon Unit (VCU) credits certified under Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) Projects with Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Certification, with vintages between January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2020. Each NBS futures contract is equal to 1,000 carbon credits, where each credit is equal to the removal or reduction of one metric ton of greenhouse gas emissions achieved by projects that preserve and maintain natural ecosystems. ICE has listed NBS futures expiries in December 2022, December 2023, and December 2024.

Participants supporting the contract include Chevron Products Company, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., EDF Trading, Elbow River Marketing Ltd. a fully owned Parkland Fuel subsidiary, the Macquarie Group, Shell, Trafigura, Vertree Partners and Vitol.