Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition

Empowering Climate Pioneers by Cutting Through the Noise

We are an independent research group of economists, data scientists, and policy experts.

What We Study

Our research sits at the intersection of climate technology, corporate decarbonisation, and carbon markets.

Meet the Team

The Net Zero Lab team

Our Methods

We combine unconventional data sources with cutting-edge analytical techniques.

Step 1

Unconventional Data

We collect novel data sources such as millions of social media posts and web-scraped corporate reports that go beyond traditional datasets.

Step 2

Machine Learning

We use large language models to aggregate, synthesise, and label data at scale, revealing new patterns and preprocessing data for downstream analysis.

Step 3

Econometrics

We apply rigorous causal inference methods such as difference-in-differences and instrumental variables to identify the real-world impact of technologies and policies.

CarbonCredits.fyi

An open assessment of carbon credit quality, drawing on studies covering nearly 1 billion tons of CO₂e. Based on our research published in Nature Communications.

Explore the Data →

In the Media

The Guardian Carbon Offsets Fail to Cut Global Heating Due to ‘Intractable’ Systemic Problems Forbes Unpacking the New Developments in the Carbon Markets Le Monde Compenser ses émissions de CO₂ est inefficace Al Jazeera Voluntary Carbon Market Has Failed the Human Rights Test Süddeutsche Zeitung Warum die meisten CO₂-Sparprojekte Luftnummern sind Die Zeit Die Klima-Kompensation war tot. Kommt sie jetzt zurück? Inside Climate News Forestry Carbon Credit Programs Have a Poor Track Record. Can a New One Do Better? Aftonbladet Forskare sågar regeringens klimatmopeder Harvard Business Manager CO₂-Zertifikate helfen dem Klima kaum Deutschlandfunk Nova CO₂-Kompensation funktioniert nur sehr mäßig Tagesspiegel Mogelpackungen im Klimaschutz: Emissionsgutschriften halten nicht, was sie versprechen Dagens Nyheter Det är inte fel att ‘köpa sig fri’ i klimatpolitiken SRF Stiftung MyClimate in der Krise Tages-Anzeiger Klimaneutral fliegen? Ein Forscher sagt, welche CO₂-Zertifikate taugen Cadena SER Pagar por seguir contaminando: ¿Cómo funcionan los bonos de carbono? The Guardian Carbon Offsets Fail to Cut Global Heating Due to ‘Intractable’ Systemic Problems Forbes Unpacking the New Developments in the Carbon Markets Le Monde Compenser ses émissions de CO₂ est inefficace Al Jazeera Voluntary Carbon Market Has Failed the Human Rights Test Süddeutsche Zeitung Warum die meisten CO₂-Sparprojekte Luftnummern sind Die Zeit Die Klima-Kompensation war tot. Kommt sie jetzt zurück? Inside Climate News Forestry Carbon Credit Programs Have a Poor Track Record. Can a New One Do Better? Aftonbladet Forskare sågar regeringens klimatmopeder Harvard Business Manager CO₂-Zertifikate helfen dem Klima kaum Deutschlandfunk Nova CO₂-Kompensation funktioniert nur sehr mäßig Tagesspiegel Mogelpackungen im Klimaschutz: Emissionsgutschriften halten nicht, was sie versprechen Dagens Nyheter Det är inte fel att ‘köpa sig fri’ i klimatpolitiken SRF Stiftung MyClimate in der Krise Tages-Anzeiger Klimaneutral fliegen? Ein Forscher sagt, welche CO₂-Zertifikate taugen Cadena SER Pagar por seguir contaminando: ¿Cómo funcionan los bonos de carbono?

Climate Tech Monitor (under development)

Latest News

Jul
27
2026

Three New Working Papers on Corporate Climate Strategies and International Carbon Markets

New preprints on corporate climate innovation, CEO environmental incentives, and global value capture in carbon crediting.

The Net Zero Lab has released three new working papers. Niklas Stolz, Volker Hoffmann, and Benedict Probst use large language models to map the dynamics of corporate climate innovation strategies across 500 companies, finding that radical innovation stagnated after 2022 while incremental initiatives continued to rise.

Fernando Loaiza and Benedict Probst examine whether tying CEO compensation to environmental performance reduces greenhouse gas emissions, finding that current ESG-linked compensation schemes function more as symbolic commitments than as effective drivers of decarbonisation.

In a third study, Niklas Stolz and Benedict Probst use large language models to identify and analyse a global network of organisations involved in 600 carbon crediting projects worldwide, capturing 2,706 unique organisations, 4,350 network ties, and 1,527 interactions with local value chains. They find that large, well-connected organisations controlling carbon rights and services capture the most value, with significant regional variation in local value capture.

Corporate climate innovation → CEO green incentives → Value capture in carbon markets →
Jul
15
2026

State of Carbon Dioxide Removal — 3rd Edition Published

Injy Johnstone and Benedict Probst served as lead authors on the landmark CDR report.

The third edition of the State of Carbon Dioxide Removal report has been published. Senior Research Fellow Injy Johnstone and Lab Head Benedict Probst served as lead authors on the comprehensive global assessment, which tracks progress in CDR deployment, policy, and research across all major removal methods.

View publication →
Jun
22
2026

New Blog Post: State of Play of Article 6 after Bonn 2026

An analysis of where Article 6 stands after the Bonn Climate Change Conference in June 2026.

Following the Bonn Climate Change Conference, Article 6 has moved from rule-making into implementation. This blog post examines the state of play across Article 6.2 cooperative approaches, Article 6.8 non-market approaches, the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism under Article 6.4, and implications for the CDM transition and CORSIA.

Read blog post →
May
12
2026

New Paper in PNAS Nexus on Carbon Credit Financing

A new study argues that scaling permanent carbon removal requires a fundamentally new financing model.

Benedict Probst and Florian Egli published a new paper in PNAS Nexus arguing that current carbon-crediting mechanisms reward short-term, low-capital-intensity projects and fail to support the scale-up of permanent carbon dioxide removal technologies. The authors propose a tiered auction framework where governments set permanent removal targets and run reverse auctions to build markets for novel CDR technologies, stabilising revenues and reducing financing costs.

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Apr
22
2026

Demo of Climate-Tech Monitor Now Available

Senior Researcher Malte Toetzke presents a demo of the Climate-Tech Monitor, currently under development.

A demo of the Climate-Tech Monitor, developed by Senior Researcher Malte Toetzke, is now available. The tool builds on research analysing the dynamics of innovation networks in climate technologies using large language models.

Watch demo → View publication →