Accounting for Carbon Credits

At present, there are no specific International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP), or interpretations of those standards, that relate to carbon credit markets. This whitepaper addresses key accounting questions under existing guidance for both compliance carbon credits and voluntary carbon credits.

The paper addresses key accounting issues for entities that expect to use carbon credits to offset their own emissions, those that will trade these instruments in a secondary market and those that intend to do a combination of both. The paper addresses issues relevant to the application of both IFRS and US GAAP, although IFRS is the principal focus.

ISDA encourages the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board to work together where possible to develop consistent accounting standards for carbon credits under IFRS and US GAAP.

Documents (1) for Accounting for Carbon Credits

ISDA Publishes Updated ISDA SIMM Governance

ISDA has published an updated version of the ISDA SIMM® Governance Framework, which sets out the principles under which the ISDA Standard Initial Margin Model® operates and the process through which it will be reviewed and amended on a consistent...

ISDA Response to PRA IMA Consultation

On September 18, ISDA, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, the Institute of International Finance and UK Finance submitted a joint response to the UK Prudential Regulation Authority consultation on adjustments to the internal model approach (IMA) for the...

Calibration Test – IQ September 2026

Calibrating capital requirements is a highly complex undertaking and getting it wrong can have serious consequences. Too much lenience might lead to banks holding insufficient capital to mitigate their risks. But excess conservatism can put balance sheets under strain, forcing...