# Australia issued a record 8.24 million ACCUs in the September quarter of 2026

_Published 2026-11-12 · Event 2026-10-15 · Credits and projects · Australia · https://asiacarbondesk.com/news/20261112-au-accu-issuance-q3-record/_

Australia's Clean Energy Regulator issued 8,243,260 Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) in July to September 2026, the largest quarterly total in its data series.
Issuance for January to September 2026 reached 19.1 million units, already above the 18.8 million issued in the whole of 2024.
ACCUs held in the national registry rose to 68.9 million at 30 September, from 61.2 million three months earlier.

## What happened

On 15 October 2026 the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) released its data workbook for the September quarter of 2026, with figures as at 30 September. The full Quarterly Carbon Market Report with analysis is due by mid-December; the workbook was published early to give the market the numbers sooner.
The workbook shows 8,243,260 ACCUs issued in the quarter, up 51% from 5,462,817 in the same quarter of 2025 and well above the previous quarterly high of 6,998,012 in July to September 2023. Vegetation methods supplied 5,271,678 units, about 64% of the total and also a quarterly record for that group. Waste projects added 1,793,785, industrial fugitives 501,604, agriculture 342,360, savanna fire management 208,688 and energy efficiency 125,145. The year-to-date total stood at 19,139,145 units.
Project registrations slowed. The CER registered 63 new ACCU Scheme projects in the quarter, 30 of them soil carbon and 27 vegetation, bringing the 2026 total to 207, against 407 for all of 2025.
On the holding side, safeguard entities held 43.9 million of the 68.9 million ACCUs in the registry, project proponents 11.1 million and intermediaries 8.6 million. A further 6.1 million ACCUs sat in the cost containment measure, outside total holdings. Holdings of Safeguard Mechanism credit units (SMCs) were 11.0 million. Safeguard surrenders were light in the quarter, at 134,759 ACCUs and no SMCs, after 8,764,299 ACCUs and 2,572,367 SMCs were surrendered in January to March around the compliance deadline.

## Background

Annual ACCU issuance has grown from 3.88 million in 2013 to 17.0 million in 2021, 18.8 million in 2024 and 21.7 million in 2025. In its June quarter 2026 report the CER put first-half issuance at a record 10.9 million and estimated 2026 issuance at 22 to 26 million units. With 19.1 million issued by the end of September, the year reaches that range only if fourth-quarter issuance is at least 2.86 million.
Demand comes mainly from the Safeguard Mechanism, reformed in 2023 so that facility baselines fall by 4.9% a year to 2030. Safeguard surrenders of ACCUs and SMCs rose from 1.5 million units in 2024 to 10.1 million in 2025. Registry holdings have risen in step, from 22.7 million at the end of 2022 to 49.9 million at the end of 2024 and 60.7 million at the end of 2025.

## Domestic crediting schemes in the region: latest published scale

| Scheme | Latest annual issuance | Other scale measure |
|---|---|---|
| Australia ACCU Scheme | 21,653,923 units (calendar 2025) | 407 projects registered in 2025 |
| Thailand T-VER (Standard) | 4,355,196 tCO2e (FY2026) | 28,247,683 tCO2e issued FY2014-FY2026 |
| Japan J-Credit | No annual figure in the data book | 14.87 Mt certified in total; 1,497 registered projects |
| India CCTS offset mechanism | No issuance found yet | 9 approved methodologies; over 40 registrants (March 2026) |

Units are 1 tCO2e each in every scheme. Figures are from each country's data book and cover different periods.

## What is next

- 2026-12 (mid-December): full Quarterly Carbon Market Report for the September quarter of 2026, per the CER

## Sources

- [Safeguard Mechanism (DCCEEW, last updated 2 November 2026)](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/emissions-reporting/national-greenhouse-energy-reporting-scheme/safeguard-mechanism) (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, checked 2026-11-14)
- [Explore the Q3 2026 QCMR data workbook (news, 15 October 2026)](https://cer.gov.au/news-and-media/news/2026/october/explore-q3-2026-qcmr-data-workbook) (Clean Energy Regulator, checked 2026-11-12)
- [QCMR Q3 2026 data release workbook (data as at 30/09/2026)](https://cer.gov.au/document/qcmr-data-workbook-september-quarter-2026) (Clean Energy Regulator, checked 2026-11-12)
- [Quarterly Carbon Market Report - June Quarter 2026](https://cer.gov.au/markets/reports-and-data/quarterly-carbon-market-reports/quarterly-carbon-market-report-june-quarter-2026/australian-environmental-markets) (Clean Energy Regulator, checked 2026-11-12)
- [Safeguard baselines](https://cer.gov.au/schemes/safeguard-mechanism/safeguard-baselines) (Clean Energy Regulator, checked 2026-11-12)

Data book: https://asiacarbondesk.com/australia-safeguard-mechanism/