Glossary›Emissions accounting and measurement›Carbon credit unit / ACCU
Glossary term
Cluster D · D36
Tier 2
Carbon credit unit / ACCU
Definition
An Australian Carbon Credit Unit is a tradeable financial product issued by the Clean Energy Regulator representing one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent of net abatement achieved by a registered project. Units are issued only after the project reports against an approved method and the abatement is verified. Each unit has a serial number and is tracked in a national registry.
Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011
· administered by the Clean Energy Regulator ·
In force
On this page
In practice
An ACCU is the Australian scheme-issued credit, distinct from international voluntary market credits such as Verra VCUs or Gold Standard units. The distinction matters because ACCUs are issued under Commonwealth legislation with a statutory regulator, a legislated method approval process and a government registry behind them, which is a materially different integrity position from most voluntary units.
Mechanically: a project registers under an approved method, operates, reports its abatement, and the Clean Energy Regulator verifies and issues units into the registry. Units are held in Australian National Registry of Emissions Units accounts, transferred between account holders, and cancelled when used. Cancellation is the step that makes a claim; holding a unit is an asset position, not an emissions outcome.
Two things a controller needs to know early. ACCUs are financial products, which has consequences for how they are recognised, held and traded, and the accounting treatment of a held credit is a live question in its own right. And ACCUs serve two distinct purposes: compliance surrender under the Safeguard Mechanism for large facilities, and voluntary retirement for claims. The same instrument, two very different contexts, and conflating them in a disclosure creates a real misstatement risk.
Unit types matter to a buyer. ACCUs are described by method and by whether the abatement is avoidance or sequestration, and a net zero claim conventionally requires removals rather than avoidance. Buying at the cheapest available price without regard to type is how an entity ends up with units that do not support the claim it intended to make.
What the assurer does with it
For the statutory disclosure, the assurer’s tests centre on the AASB S2 carbon credit information requirements and on ensuring nothing has been netted against gross emissions.
They request the registry holding statement and the cancellation records, not the purchase contracts. They agree the quantity cancelled to the quantity claimed, agree the cancellation date falls within the reporting period, and agree the account holder to the reporting entity: a credit cancelled by a parent does not support a subsidiary’s claim without a documented allocation.
They accept registry cancellation records naming the entity and dated within the period. They reject a purchase confirmation with no cancellation, units held at period end presented as if retired, and a disclosure that states a quantity of credits without stating whether they are reduction or removal units, or the scheme under which they were issued.
Where credits are held rather than cancelled, the assurer’s interest shifts to the financial report, because a held ACCU is an asset and its recognition and measurement is a financial statements question. That is a consistency check between the two reports, and it is one of the places the sustainability assurer and the financial auditor have to talk to each other.
Commonly confused with
Renewable energy certificates such as LGCs and STCs, which are a different instrument governed by the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 and operate inside market-based Scope 2 rather than as offsets. Also confused with Safeguard Mechanism Credits, which are a separate unit type generated by facilities emitting below their baseline.
Sources
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Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (Cth)
Federal Register of Legislation
Review status
Review required
Last reviewed
15 September 2026
Editorial pass, unsigned
Reviewer required
Carbon accounting specialist and registered company auditor
Next scheduled review
1 July 2027
Part of
Cluster D, Emissions accounting and measurement
49 terms from the head term carbon accounting down to individual Scope 3 categories and the mechanics of factors, boundaries and data quality. The largest cluster in the glossary.
Related terms
Why cancelling a unit does not move a disclosed gross figure
The two claims units are cancelled to support
The compliance context in which the same unit is surrendered rather than retired
Related questions
What does the board have to sign?
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The directors’ declaration in the sustainability report. For financial years commencing between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2027, directors declare they have taken reasonable steps to ensure the report complies with the Corporations Act. From financial years commencing 1 January 2028, they declare their opinion that it does comply.
Are directors personally liable for climate disclosures?
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Directors carry their ordinary care and diligence duties in relation to the sustainability report, and they sign a declaration about it. A temporary and partial protection applies to some forward-looking content, but it is narrower than it is usually described and it is closing. This is the one answer that should be read together with your own legal advice.
Other terms in this cluster
Carbon credit unit / ACCU