Australia’s carbon credit market is entering a new era of openness, with fresh data revealing when carbon projects start, finish, and how long their climate benefits are meant to last.
The Clean Energy Regulator is releasing a tranche of new data to the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme project register, following new rules to boost transparency and trust in the carbon market.
Under changes to the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015, the first set of new disclosures includes the crediting period start and end dates for all projects and the permanence period start dates for all sequestration projects. This data release stems from the recommendations of the 2022 Independent Review of ACCUs.
“This is a welcome change that improves transparency and shows how the ACCU Scheme works to accelerate carbon abatement for Australia,” the Regulator stated.
The additional data enables a clearer picture of project maturity and timelines across the national carbon portfolio.
Emissions avoidance projects typically run for seven years, while sequestration projects span 25 years. However, a small proportion – especially avoided deforestation projects – commit to 100-year permanence obligations.
Analysis of the updated register shows a surge in project registrations between 2021 and 2024, largely driven by uptake of the soil carbon sequestration method.
Many industrial, energy efficiency and waste-related projects have opted to defer their crediting period starts, reflecting longer infrastructure implementation timelines. In contrast, agriculture and vegetation projects tend to begin closer to registration, except where seasonal factors like seed stock availability delay commencement.
The Regulator also confirmed that only 3 per cent of projects have completed their crediting periods to date, with most still in progress.
Notably, 48 avoided deforestation projects are due to conclude their 15-year crediting periods this year. These projects will continue under 100-year permanence requirements.
Further register enhancements – scheduled for July – will include modelling approaches, activity-level details, suppression mechanisms, and authorised parties linked to each project.
This next phase of publication is anticipated to provide greater insight into the operational and administrative integrity of registered carbon projects.