Asset management firm Northern Trust has launched its Northern Trust Carbon Ecosystem with the first live transactions on the blockchain-based platform, which enables institutional buyers to digitally access carbon credits from leading project developers.

The official live transactions were initiated by Water Recovery Systems IP and CUT Carbon Distributed Technologies, which sold carbon credits to institutional buyers for retirement.

The live transactions follow the asset manager’s successful milestone of completing fully automated transactions on the initial minimum viable product, announced in September 2023.

The ecosystem is powered by its digital assets platform, Northern Trust Matrix Zenith, to connect institutional buyers with project developers focused on climate solutions to avoid, reduce or remove greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Supported by private ledger digital blockchain technology, buyers can purchase digital carbon credits directly from project developers and retire these against their emissions footprint. Northern Trust acts on instruction to record, transfer and settle digital carbon credits in its capacity as the designated custodian.

“The Northern Trust Carbon Ecosystem supports the growing interest in the voluntary carbon market by providing a digital lifecycle management capability for voluntary carbon credits,” says Pete Cherecwich, the asset manager’s president of asset servicing. “The seamless and secure settlement experience is designed to give project developers and institutional buyers confidence in their carbon credit transactions.”