Carbon-Credit Integrity in the ACCU Market Analysis

This research report presents a geospatial analysis of the integrity of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) within the context of the evolving carbon credit market. It outlines the significant developments in the ACCU Scheme since 2023, focusing on the strengthening of its integrity framework and the impact of reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism. The report emphasizes the critical need for robust analysis to differentiate credit quality, particularly in afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) projects. The findings reveal observable integrity premiums in the ACCU market, with Environmental Plantings (EP) projects achieving higher integrity scores and commanding price premiums compared to Plantation Forestry (PF) projects. The analysis also highlights the variation in integrity outcomes at the project level and discusses the implications of methodological design choices on project risk. The report utilizes a structured framework to assess carbon-credit integrity across multiple criteria, providing insights into the current state and future direction of the ACCU market.