Carbon markets are trading systems in which carbon credits — each representing one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) either avoided or removed from the atmosphere — can be bought, sold, and retired by governments, corporations, and other entities seeking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions or meet regulatory obligations. In the forestry sector, carbon markets create a financial mechanism for valuing the carbon stored in trees and soil, transforming standing timber, avoided deforestation, and reforestation activities into tradeable assets. Two broad categories exist: compliance markets, in which participants must surrender credits to meet legally mandated emissions caps (such as under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism), and voluntary markets, in which buyers purchase credits to meet self-imposed net-zero or carbon-neutral commitments. Australia's primary government-administered scheme is the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) market, administered by the Clean Energy Regulator, under which registered forestry projects — including Human-Induced Regeneration (HIR), Environmental Plantings, and Plantation Forestry methods — can generate ACCUs by sequestering carbon in forest biomass and soils. Forestry carbon projects must adhere to approved measurement methodologies and submit to periodic auditing and permanence requirements, which for avoided deforestation projects can extend to 25 or 100 years. The financial return from carbon credits has in some cases made reforestation and forest conservation economically competitive with agricultural land uses, driving significant investment in revegetation and forest protection across Australia's pastoral and agricultural zones. Challenges in forestry carbon accounting include accurately measuring and modelling carbon stocks, managing permanence risk from wildfire and drought, and navigating additionality requirements that demonstrate the carbon outcome would not have occurred without the market incentive.
| Field |
Value |
| Company |
Pachama |
| Country |
USA |
| Type |
Company |
| Employees |
~80 |