How CO2IN reduces emissions

Buying CO2IN takes EU emission allowances out of circulation. Fewer allowances means less that industry is permitted to emit — the reduction happens by arithmetic, not by promise.

How does buying CO2IN reduce emissions?

In four steps:

1. The EU caps emissions by issuing a fixed, shrinking number of allowances. One allowance permits one tonne.
2. Every major polluter must surrender allowances matching what it emitted.
3. CO2IN buys allowances on that market and holds them, so nobody can surrender them.
4. Emitters face a smaller pool. They must either buy at a higher price or emit less.

Because the cap is fixed, an allowance taken out is not replaced. The tonne it represented cannot legally be emitted by anyone.

Why is this different from other carbon offsets?

Most voluntary offsets pay for something that is meant to happen: trees to be planted, a project not to go ahead, emissions to be avoided somewhere. Verifying that — and proving it would not have happened anyway — is where the sector's credibility problems come from.

CO2IN does not fund a project or estimate an avoided emission. It removes a permit that already exists in a regulated, audited market. There is nothing to model.

What is the EU ETS?

The European Union Emissions Trading System: the world's largest and longest-running mandatory carbon market, covering around 45% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions.

It works by cap and trade. The regulator decides how many allowances exist and reduces that number each year, and the market sets the price. The number of allowances issued is expected to reach zero by 2050.

It is also normally out of reach for individuals: the minimum traded lot is 1,000 allowances — 1,000 tonnes. CO2IN's role is to make that market accessible in 10 kg of CO2e units.

Where does my money go?

To buying allowances on the market. That money reaches EU member states, which are required to spend it on decarbonisation — energy efficiency, renewable generation, and cushioning the social cost of the transition.

So the effect is twofold: the allowance is withdrawn, and the money spent withdrawing it funds further emission reduction.

Why does the CO2IN price move?

Because it tracks the market price of EU emission allowances directly.

That market trades only during exchange hours on business days, so the price does not move overnight or at weekends — see why the price is static at weekends.

Does holding CO2IN have any other effect?

Yes, through a mechanism called the Market Stability Reserve.

The EU counts how many allowances are in circulation each year, and withholds some from future auctions when that number is high. Because a CO2IN-held allowance is counted as in circulation on the decisive date, holding it also delays the release of further allowances into auction the following year.

The practical effect is that holding amplifies the withdrawal somewhat beyond the allowance itself.