Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) from avoided deforestation (AD) projects made up more than 60pc of the total 3.15mn issuances in September, reaching a monthly record high for the method, with all projects involving environmental markets investor GreenCollar's subsidiary Terra Carbon.
AD ACCU supply totalled nearly 1.95mn units last month, up from 735,153 in August and surpassing the entire annual supply of 900,304 units in the July 2025-June 2026 period, according to an Argus analysis of Clean Energy Regulator (CER) registry data published on 21 October.
Annual AD ACCU supply ranged between 2.28mn-2.37mn units over 2020-24 and reached 2.67mn in 2024-25. Issuances in August-September 2026, at 2.68mn units, surpassed annual supply in each of the past six years.
Issuances last month came from 13 projects, of which seven had Terra Carbon as the project proponent with a combined 529,545 ACCUs. Terra Carbon is the agent for the other six projects, with a combined 1.41mn issuances (see table).
The sharp increase in AD issuances is expected to continue over the coming months. The CER said in its April-June quarterly report on 28 August that one source of future supply would be ACCUs issued for eligible growth in forest biomass over AD projects' crediting periods.
This had resulted in an additional 0.3mn ACCUs being issued to two projects as of the end of August, the CER said then, reflecting an average 20pc increase in carbon stocks over their 15-year crediting periods. Project proponents can earn additional ACCUs where field surveys demonstrate eligible increases in carbon stored in forests, subject to strict biomass measurement requirements.
The CER said earlier this year that it expected ACCU issuances to reach 22mn-26mn units in 2026. It expects supply to reach the upper end of that range, general manager of carbon markets Kathryn Smith said at the Carbon Market Institute's (CMI) 2026 Australasian Emissions Reduction Summit in Adelaide on 20 October.
Issuances in September also came from human-induced regeneration (HIR) projects, at 502,016 ACCUs, and landfill gas projects, at 390,492 units, followed by other methods.
ACCU spot prices showed signs of weakening in late October. Argus assessed generic ACCUs at A$37.75/t CO2 equivalent ($26.40/t CO2e) on 20 October, down from A$38.35/t CO2e on 2 October.
| Avoided deforestation ACCU issuances in September 2026 | unit | ||
| Project proponent | Agent | Project name | ACCUs |
| The Fords Bridge Aggregation Carbon Project | Terra Carbon | Fords Bridge Aggregation Native Forest Protection | 597,337 |
| Michael John Nicholson | Terra Carbon | Glenwood Native Forest Protection | 238,628 |
| Terra Carbon | n/a | Meadow Glen Native Forest Protection | 236,292 |
| Ashwood Carbon Project | Terra Carbon | Ashwood Native Forest Protection | 195,196 |
| Dorothy Rana Manns; Sydney John Manns | Terra Carbon | Dijoe Station Native Forest Protection | 182,539 |
| David John Harrison; Trictor Investments | Terra Carbon | Nullawarra Station #2 Native Forest Protection | 128,767 |
| Terra Carbon | n/a | Killala Native Forest Protection | 99,861 |
| Terra Carbon | n/a | Bogan Downs Native Forest Protection | 76,716 |
| David John Harrison; Trictor Investments | Terra Carbon | Nullawarra Station Native Forest Protection | 74,638 |
| Terra Carbon | n/a | Etiwanda Native Forest Protection | 73,231 |
| Terra Carbon | n/a | Glen Hope Native Forest Protection | 27,332 |
| Terra Carbon | n/a | Lynwood Native Forest Protection | 8,876 |
| Terra Carbon | n/a | Narrandool Native Forest Protection | 7,237 |
| Clean Energy Regulator | |||
mn21102026071300.png)
