Credits and projects · Australia

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

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.

15 Oct 2026Credits and projectsAustraliaPublished 12 Nov 2026
Sydney central business district skyline at dawn, seen from the airport
Sydney central business district skyline at dawn, seen from the airport. Photo: Karora, Public domain, source. Resized only; no other change.
Report

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.

Context

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.

Data

How it compares

Domestic crediting schemes in the region: latest published scale

million units06.2512.518.75252019202120232026 Jan-Sep19.14

Source: Clean Energy Regulator; Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO); J-Credit Scheme Secretariat; Ministry of Power; Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Power). Checked 2026-11-12. Units are 1 tCO2e each in every scheme. Figures are from each country's data book and cover different periods.

Table of the same figures
SchemeLatest annual issuanceOther scale measure
Australia ACCU Scheme21,653,923 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-CreditNo annual figure in the data book14.87 Mt certified in total; 1,497 registered projects
India CCTS offset mechanismNo issuance found yet9 approved methodologies; over 40 registrants (March 2026)
Ahead

What is next

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

Sources

Read next

Related