A carbon credit is issued once, but the carbon behind it has to stay out of the atmosphere for much longer. If a forest burns or a soil is cleared, stored carbon can return to the air, and a credit that has already been sold no longer matches what happened on the ground. Permanence is how carbon markets manage that risk, and the rules are tightening. Why permanence matters Credits from land-based and removal projects usually represent carbon held in trees, soils or other stor

The Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme is going through a further round of integrity reforms. A bill introduced to federal Parliament in August 2026 would change how consent works on native title land, who advises on methods, and what happens if a method is later found to have a serious integrity problem. Here we set out what is proposed and what it could mean for new and existing projects, as at early October 2026. Where the reforms come from The ACCU Scheme has iss

Companies that use carbon credits face more searching questions about what they say in public. During 2026 the main voluntary frameworks were updated, and a European rule on offset-based product claims began to apply. This article sets out what a credible claim looks like as at October 2026, and why it matters in the Gulf. Reductions come first Every credible framework starts in the same place: a company's own emissions. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) published v

Saudi Arabia has built its own route for turning emission reductions into credits. The Greenhouse Gas Crediting and Offsetting Mechanism, known as GCOM, is a national scheme run by the government rather than by an international standard. This article explains what it is, how a project moves through it, and where it stands as at October 2026. What GCOM is GCOM is a voluntary crediting mechanism operated by Saudi Arabia's Designated National Authority (DNA), the body that previ