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While emissions trading already began in the late 1980s and early 1990s, carbon markets can officially be traced back to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. The Kyoto Protocol introduced market-based mechanisms allowing countries to trade emission allowances and invest in emission reduction projects overseas. On this basis, the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was launched in 2005, pioneering the introduction of large-scale, regulated carbon trading systems. Parallel to the established compliance markets, voluntary carbon markets emerged in the 2000s, enabling businesses and individuals to offset their carbon footprints through different projects involving verified activities that reduce, avoid, or remove greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the atmosphere. More recently, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement established a framework that allows countries to collectively reach their emission reduction targets through the voluntary exchange of carbon credits from GHG mitigation activities.