The chief executive officer of Climate Impact X (CIX) Mikkel Larsen will step down once a new or interim CEO is appointed to focus on his family.

Larsen was formally appointed to the role of CEO of the Singapore-based marketplace, auction house and exchange for carbon credits in 2021 and was instrumental in overseeing the company from its launch the same year through to the full operationalization of its current core solutions.

Through its CIX Exchange, the company facilitates two-way trading of market-accepted standardized spot contracts and single project listings, concentrating liquidity and providing the market with price transparency, certainty and risk management solutions.

CIX, which has offices in London, is funded by DBS Bank, GenZero (a decarbonization-focused investment platform founded by Temasek), Mizuho Financial Group, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Standard Chartered.

With the support of CIX’s key investors DBS Bank, GenZero, Mizuho Financial, SGX and Standard Chartered, the exchange’s board of directors has begun a global search to identify the best long-term candidate for the role of CEO who can lead the company on its next phase of growth.

The board includes Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS; Loh Boon Chye, CEO of SGX; Bill Winters, group CEO of Standard Chartered and current CIX board chair; Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, executive director and CEO of Temasek Holdings; and Claire O’Neill, co-chair of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Imperatives Advisory Board.

“Larsen has played a pivotal role in the development of CIX over the years, demonstrating commitment and foresight to navigate one of the most challenging and exciting periods for carbon markets,” Winters says.

Larsen adds: “It has been a very difficult decision to leave a company that I had the good fortune of helping to build, and I am proud that we have built CIX from just an idea to a leading global marketplace and exchange operating across major carbon markets today.”