The Australian carbon offset market sprung back to life last week, with renewed demand from larger trading houses and financial institutions supporting higher prices. Over 360,000 units were traded across the spot, forward and options markets, with higher prices underpinned by strong demand for Human Induced Regeneration (HIR) specific projects. As flagged in our earlier updates, the uptick in demand for higher quality offsets supports the continued ‘flight to quality’ trend, with buyers increasingly selective, both across and within categories, as they seek to minimise greenwashing risks, and avoid potential regulatory risks for some methods.
In response to increasing price stratification across ACCU project categories, RepuTex has today released two new indexes to track the daily premium for key ACCU methods, including HIR and Savannah Burning projects, relative the daily ACCU spot price.
Internationally, prices for high quality nature-based sequestration offsets remained largely range bound over the week, while prices for lower quality avoidance projects (renewable energy, waste, and industrial) fell heavily.
This report analyses current activity in the Australian and international voluntary carbon markets, including spot and forward price dynamics, offset issuance and voluntary cancellations. Analysis considers Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and voluntary offsets across key international registries including Verra, Gold Standard, the American Carbon Registry, and the Climate Action Reserve.
