Carbon credits have no single price. A tonne of CO₂ avoided by a renewable energy project and a tonne removed by biochar can differ in price by more than fifty times. This section shows what credits cost, where the figures come from and what drives the differences.
Where our price figures come from
We summarise openly published reports and cite every figure. The current snapshot uses Sylvera’s Carbon Market Data Snapshot for Q3 2026, which reports the average price paid for credits retired: $6.92 per tonne in Q3 2026Source 1. For project types Sylvera doesn’t cover, it uses Ecosystem Marketplace’s State of the Voluntary Carbon Market 2025, which reports average transaction prices for 2023 and 2024 from its survey of market participantsSource 2. Because it is built from reported deals, Ecosystem Marketplace treats its figures as lower bounds for the whole marketSource 2.
We don’t use licensed price indexes, and we don’t scrape exchanges or sellers. When we can’t find an openly published figure for a project type, we leave it out rather than estimate it.
What drives the price of a carbon credit?
The type of project matters most: removals cost far more than most avoidance credits. The age of the credit (its vintage), co-benefits for local communities and quality labels such as the ICVCM’s CCP label also move prices. Why carbon credit prices differ sets out these drivers with figures, and price by project type gives the range for each type.
Why prices change over time
Average prices move with supply and demand. Between 2023 and 2024, for example, the average price of renewable energy credits fell while reforestation and other removal credits became more expensiveSource 2. Buyers have also come to prefer recent vintages and credits that meet newer quality standards. That is why we date every snapshot and keep a history.
How to use the prices
Use the ranges to sense-check a quote for the type of credit you want, not as a price you should expect to pay. Then check the credit itself: the project, the standard, the vintage and the registry record. Our buying guides explain how, and what is the carbon market? explains how voluntary and compliance prices differ. For the price of allowances in Europe’s compliance market, see the EU ETS price, taken from official auction results.