Great Expectations: What to Watch in Carbon Markets in 2026 and Q1 2026 WCI and WCA Auction Expectations

This webinar will provide fresh insights and forward-looking perspectives, including the upcoming Q1 2026 WCI and WCA Auction Expectations, while exploring the intricacies of key compliance carbon markets worldwide. As regulatory ambition continues to increase and carbon pricing mechanisms evolve across jurisdictions, understanding the structural direction of these markets becomes increasingly important for compliance entities, financial participants, and other stakeholders tracking environmental commodities. Our journey will cover various Cap-and-Trade programs and markets in the US, Canada, Europe, and the UK, offering a structured perspective on how policy updates, emissions trajectories, and supply adjustments are shaping long-term demand-supply fundamentals. This session will feature the latest updates from our comprehensive supply-demand models as we chart a long-term view of these markets, highlighting the drivers influencing allowance availability, bank trajectories, and pricing outlooks across major compliance systems. Participants will gain insights into how regulatory changes and emissions pathways may influence market balance, and how different jurisdictions are progressing toward tightening caps and evolving compliance frameworks.

In addition to the market outlook, we will discuss auction expectations for WCI, and WA’s first auctions of the year. Auctions continue to play a critical role in price discovery across Cap-and-Trade markets, providing key signals regarding market sentiment, liquidity conditions, and expected allowance scarcity. Our analysis will examine recent allowance price trends, trading patterns, and participation dynamics across the Western Climate Initiative and Washington Cap-and-Invest program, helping stakeholders interpret the factors that may influence clearing prices and bid behavior in upcoming auctions. Join us as we explore cCarbon’s expectations for carbon commodities in 2026, combining forward-looking modeling insights with near-term auction perspectives to provide a comprehensive view of what market participants should monitor in the year ahead across the world’s most important compliance carbon markets.

This webinar is open to cCarbon’s Essential and Analytics Pro members subscribed to our Cap and Trade markets. Can’t make it live? No problem – the recording and slides will be available in the cCarbon Webinar Archives. Not a member and still interested in attending? Sign up for our Essential Plan to get access to this webinar and a growing library of premium content. You can also simply register, and we’ll reach out with more details.