Traditional carbon credit traders vs Cawa: The new way to fund real climate impact

For years, the voluntary carbon market has operated inside a "black box." Companies with good intentions set aside budgets for climate action, handed that money to traders and hoped for the best. But as critiques on Net Zero claims intensify, the old way of doing business isn't just inefficient, it’s a reputational risk.

If you are a sustainability leader, you are likely evaluating how to procure your next batch of carbon credits. The choice now often comes down to carbon credit traders vs a carbon credit platform like Cawa.

One represents the traditional, relationship-based model of deals behind closed doors. The other represents a modern, tech-forward approach that connects buyers directly to project developers.

Cawa believes that the future of carbon credit purchasing must eliminate sketchy intermediaries and ensure that as much money as possible flows directly to verified climate projects. By combining due diligence, full traceability and automation, Cawa offers a radically more transparent and impactful alternative to the traditional trader-led model.

In this guide, we’ll break down the key differences in cost, transparency and quality so you can decide which model fits your climate strategy.

A quick comparison of carbon credit traders vs Cawa

Before diving into the details, it helps to see the fundamental structural difference between these two models:

• Traditional carbon credit traders operate as intermediaries. They buy credits from projects (often at low prices), mark them up and resell them to corporate buyers. Their business model relies on the margin between the buy and sell price, which is rarely disclosed.
• Cawa operates as a transparency platform. We are not a trader. We connect you directly with the project developer. Our model relies on a transparent fee, meaning the big “mark-ups" don't exist like in the traditional sense. You pay the real price of the project and we ensure the money gets there.

Cawa overview

Cawa was built to solve the transparency crisis in the carbon market. We believe that if you can't trace a transaction, you can't trust the impact. We ensure that the vast majority of your budget flows directly to verified climate projects rather than getting stuck in the supply chain.

In plain terms, Cawa is a platform designed for sustainability leaders who need to secure high-quality carbon removals. We function as a direct bridge, allowing companies to source credits straight from vetted project developers with complete financial transparency. This enables you to build a compliant portfolio, track exactly where your money goes, and automate your climate action with confidence.

Features of Cawa

Transparency and traceability

Prove your impact with absolute certainty. Instead of relying on a static PDF invoice, you can track your specific financial flows from the moment you execute a payment until the funds reach the project developer. This gives you the granular financial lineage you need to satisfy strict audits (CSRD) and demonstrate to stakeholders that your budget is driving verified climate action.

Rigorous due diligence

Procure with confidence knowing that project risks have been managed for you. You gain access to a highly curated selection of developers, only about 20 out of the 300+ we have screened made the cut. By relying on our deep analysis of commercial integrity and direct counterparty checks, you protect your reputation and ensure you are funding only the highest-quality projects.

API integration

Automate your climate action and make it part of your product. You can integrate sustainability directly into your business logic using our API’s, enabling you to offset emissions per transaction or per product sold. This allows you to move away from manual, end-of-year procurement and turn climate action into a seamless, automated operational standard

Reporting

Build credible, audit-proof reports without the stress. You can access structured, verified documentation sourced directly from the developers, including real-time data and primary evidence. This equips you with the data needed to communicate progress to auditors and customers, allowing you to tell a powerful impact story without the fear of greenwashing.

Cons of Cawa

Limited project types

We are not a supermarket for cheap offsets. You will not find €2 renewable energy credits from a decade ago on our platform. We focus exclusively on high-quality carbon removal (like Biochar and Enhanced Rock Weathering). If your primary goal is to buy the cheapest possible credits to hit a target on paper, Cawa is likely not the right fit.

Carbon credit traders overview

Traditional carbon credit traders function as intermediaries in the voluntary carbon market, effectively acting as wholesalers. They operate by purchasing large volumes of credits directly from project developers, often at low prices, and holding them on their own balance sheets as inventory. Their business model relies on arbitrage, they buy low and resell to corporate buyers at a markup, generating profit from the spread between the two prices. Because this margin is rarely disclosed, the process creates a "black box" where you cannot see how much of your budget actually reaches the project versus how much is kept by the trader. Consequently, they act as gatekeepers, controlling both the access to projects and the flow of pricing information.

Advantages

Personalized service

Traders offer a service model built on traditional, manual deal-making. For buyers who prefer a purely offline experience, executing transactions via phone and email without engaging with a platform or digital data, traders provide a familiar, analog interface for procurement.

Market access

Because carbon credit traders have been around for a long time, they often have access to a massive volume of legacy credits. If you need to source credits from a very specific region or vintage that is no longer widely available, a trader might have it sitting on their balance sheet.

Negotiation

Traders are deal-makers. If you are buying in bulk, they can sometimes negotiate specific terms with projects, although this often comes with higher hidden fees.

Cons of carbon credit traders

High fees and markups

This is the "black box" problem. Traders make money on the spread. It is not uncommon for brokers to resell credits at prices at least 3x higher than they paid the developer. This means that for every €100 you spend, only €33 might actually be going to the climate project. In the most extreme cases we have seen traders selling projects with markups of 7 times. 

Slow, old-school processes

Working with carbon credit brokers often feels like banking in the 1990s. It involves long email chains, manual PDF invoices and slow settlement times. There is little to no automation or real-time data access.

Low transparency

When you buy from a trader, you are usually buying from their inventory. You generally do not know how much the developer was paid, or when. This lack of transparency introduces significant reputational risk if it is later revealed that the project was underfunded despite your high payment.

Quality concerns and limited due diligence

Traders thrive on volume. Their incentive is to move as many credits as possible. This can lead to a lower bar for quality, where "registry listed" is treated as "good enough." They often lack the technical expertise to perform deep-dive due diligence on the scientific validity of the removal method, relying instead on the generic standard stamps.

Carbon credit traders vs Cawa: Which should you choose?

The choice between carbon credit traders vs Cawa ultimately depends on your organization's values and risk appetite.

If your priority is personalized service for legacy credits and you are comfortable with the "black box" of high fees and markups and low transparency, a traditional trader might be good for you.

However, if your goal is to fund real climate impact through full transparency and traceability, the modern approach is clear. Cawa ensures your budget is used efficiently through rigorous due diligence, giving you the verified data needed for authentic impact and storytelling.

By choosing Cawa, you eliminate the high markup fees, gain direct access to the developer, and secure a portfolio built on integrity and quality. Want to explore what this could mean for your organization? Talk to our team.

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