Platts proposes to launch ACCU assessments for Environmental Plantings and Savanna Fire Management

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is proposing to launch new assessments for Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) generated from Environmental Plantings (EP) and Savanna Fire Management (SFM) methods on Nov. 1.

ACCUs are issued by Australia's Clean Energy Regulator to carbon project developers based on legislated methodologies. They are used to offset emissions by liable entities under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism scheme and can also be used to offset additional emissions on a voluntary basis. The proposed assessments would bring greater transparency to the ACCUs market, which is currently dominated by trading of Generic and Human Induced Regeneration (HIR) ACCUs.

EP projects involve sequestering carbon by establishing and maintaining vegetation such as trees or shrubs on land that has been clear of forest for at least five years. SFM involves annual planned burning that reduces the frequency and extent of late dry season fires in savannas in northern Australia.

Platts proposes to launch two assessments for SFM ACCUs: one reflecting the value of credits with co-benefits to indigenous communities and a second reflecting the value of credits from non-indigenous communities.

Platts proposes to launch the following assessments:

• ACCU Savanna Fire Management, Indigenous
• ACCU Savanna Fire Management, Non-indigenous
• ACCU Environmental Plantings

The specifications for these three assessments would be in line with those for Platts existing ACCUs coverage, as follows:

• Time Stamp: 19:30 Melbourne/Sydney/Canberra time
• Unit: Australian dollars per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (AUD/mtCO2e)
• Volume: 1,000 mtCO2e to 100,000 mtCO2e

Platts would publish these assessments in line with the APAC Carbon publishing calendar. More details about the publication schedule can be found here: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/our-methodology/holiday

The new assessments would be published in the Platts Carbon Markets Daily, on Platts Carbon Markets Alert and Energy Transition Alert, and in the Platts Pricing Database under market data category ACM.

Details on Platts' existing ACCU assessments can be found here: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/PlattsContent/_assets/_files/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/method_carbon_credits.pdf

Please send any feedback or question on this proposal to Platts_Carbon@spglobal.com, asiacompliancecarbon@spglobal.com and PriceGroup@spglobal.com by Oct. 3, 2023.

For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available to the public upon request.