As ofOctober 2026
The type of project behind a carbon credit is the biggest single driver of its price. This page sets out the latest openly published prices for each project type: Sylvera’s Q3 2026 market data for the market average and three forest typesSource 1, and Ecosystem Marketplace’s survey of 2023 and 2024 deals for the restSource 2. It explains why each type sits where it does. Every figure on this page is drawn from our monthly carbon credit price snapshot, part of our prices section.
Carbon credit prices by project type
Scrolls sideways to show every column.
| Category | Kind | Low (USD/t) | High (USD/t) | What the range is, and when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All voluntary credits (market average) | Mixed | 6.12 | 6.92 | Average price per credit retired: $6.12 in 2026 so far (Q1–Q3), $6.92 in Q3 2026 (Sylvera) |
| Renewable energy | Avoidance | 2.67 | 3.92 | Average transaction price: $3.92 in 2023, $2.67 in 2024 (Ecosystem Marketplace, Table 3) |
| Chemical processes and industrial manufacturing | Avoidance | 3.66 | 4.10 | Average transaction price: $4.10 in 2023, $3.66 in 2024 (Ecosystem Marketplace, Table 3) |
| REDD+ (forest protection) | Avoidance | 3.56 | 7.75 | Average price per credit retired in Q3 2026: $3.56 rated BB or lower, $7.75 rated BBB or higher (Sylvera) |
| Waste disposal | Avoidance | 6.72 | 7.46 | Average transaction price: $7.46 in 2023, $6.72 in 2024 (Ecosystem Marketplace, Table 3) |
| Household and community devices (incl. cookstoves) | Avoidance | 7.30 | 7.71 | Average transaction price: $7.71 in 2023, $7.30 in 2024 (Ecosystem Marketplace, Table 3) |
| Agroforestry | Mixed | 11.58 | 14.11 | Average transaction price: $11.58 in 2023, $14.11 in 2024 (Ecosystem Marketplace, Table 4) |
| Improved forest management (IFM) | Mixed | 12.79 | 21.07 | Average price per credit retired in Q3 2026: $12.79 rated BB or lower, $21.07 rated BBB or higher (Sylvera) |
| Afforestation, reforestation and revegetation (ARR) | Removal | 12.80 | 23.47 | Average price per credit retired in Q3 2026: $12.80 rated BB or lower, $23.47 rated BBB or higher (Sylvera) |
| Biochar | Removal | 160.00 | 160.00 | Average transaction price in 2024 was over $160 (Ecosystem Marketplace report summary); no range published |
| All reduction credits | Avoidance | 4.05 | 4.64 | Average transaction price: $4.64 in 2023, $4.05 in 2024 (Ecosystem Marketplace, Table 7) |
| All removal credits | Removal | 17.28 | 19.50 | Average transaction price: $17.28 in 2023, $19.50 in 2024 (Ecosystem Marketplace, Table 7) |
As of Oct 2026 · Sources: [1] Carbon Market Data Snapshot: Q3 2026; [2] State of the Voluntary Carbon Market 2025: Meeting the Moment, Renewing Trust in Carbon Finance
- All voluntary credits (market average), mixedSource 1$6.12–$6.92
- Renewable energy, avoidanceSource 2$2.67–$3.92
- Chemical processes and industrial manufacturing, avoidanceSource 2$3.66–$4.10
- REDD+ (forest protection), avoidanceSource 1$3.56–$7.75
- Waste disposal, avoidanceSource 2$6.72–$7.46
- Household and community devices (incl. cookstoves), avoidanceSource 2$7.30–$7.71
- Agroforestry, mixedSource 2$11.58–$14.11
- Improved forest management (IFM), mixedSource 1$12.79–$21.07
- Afforestation, reforestation and revegetation (ARR), removalSource 1$12.80–$23.47
- Biochar, removalSource 2$160
- All reduction credits, avoidanceSource 2$4.05–$4.64
- All removal credits, removalSource 2$17.28–$19.50
What each range means depends on the source, and the note on each row says which. For forest protection, improved forest management and reforestation, the low and high figures are Q3 2026 averages for credits Sylvera rates BB or lower and BBB or higherSource 1. For the other types they are the 2023 and 2024 average transaction pricesSource 2. The bars use a logarithmic scale so that biochar fits on the same chart as renewable energy, and removal types are shown in green.
Avoidance credits: the lower end of the range
Avoidance credits pay for emissions that would otherwise have happened. Most of the cheaper project types are in this group.
Renewable energy averaged $2.67–$3.92 per tonneSource 2, the lowest of any type in our snapshot. Its average price fell by 31% in 2024 and the volume traded fell by 23%Source 2. In August 2024 the ICVCM decided that credits from eight current renewable energy methodologies would not receive its CCP quality label, because they don’t test rigorously enough whether projects would have gone ahead anywaySource 3.
Chemical processes and industrial manufacturing averaged $3.66–$4.10 per tonneSource 2. These projects cut emissions at factories, for example by destroying industrial gases.
Waste disposal, which includes methane capture at landfills, averaged $6.72–$7.46 per tonneSource 2. The volume of waste disposal credits traded more than tripled in 2024. Ecosystem Marketplace links this to demand for landfill gas credits after they were approved for the CCP label in mid-2024Source 2.
Household and community devices, mostly clean cookstoves, averaged $7.30–$7.71 per tonneSource 2. In March 2025 the ICVCM approved three cookstove methodologies, with conditions on how fuel use is measured, and found two earlier methodologies insufficiently rigorousSource 5. Check which methodology a cookstove project uses before you buy.
Forest protection (REDD+) credits retired in Q3 2026 averaged $3.56–$7.75 per tonne: the low end for credits Sylvera rates BB or lower, the high end for BBB or higherSource 1. Highly rated REDD+ credits rose 58% in a yearSource 1, after the average REDD+ price fell by 23% in 2024 and the volume traded halvedSource 2. In November 2024 the ICVCM approved three REDD+ methodologies, including Verra’s VM0048, and said credits from Verra’s older REDD+ methodologies would not be able to receive the CCP labelSource 4.
Nature-based removals and mixed forest types
Removal credits pay for carbon dioxide taken out of the air and stored. Buyers pay more for them, and nature-based removals are where most of that demand lands.
- Afforestation, reforestation and revegetation (ARR) credits retired in Q3 2026 averaged $12.80–$23.47 per tonne from the lowest to the highest rating band, a premium of 1.83 times for credits rated BBB or higherSource 1. ARR made up 99% of the transaction volume of pure removal credits in 2024Source 2.
- Agroforestry, which plants trees among crops or pasture, averaged $11.58–$14.11 per tonneSource 2, after a 22% rise in its average price in 2024Source 2.
- Improved forest management (IFM) credits retired in Q3 2026 averaged $12.79–$21.07 per tonne from the lowest to the highest rating band. The gap between the two has widened from $5.76 a year earlier to $8.28Source 1. More than three times as many IFM transactions were reported in 2024 as in 2023Source 2, and in August 2025 the ICVCM approved two IFM methodologiesSource 6.
Agroforestry and IFM are marked “mixed” in the table because their credits can combine avoided emissions and removals. Ecosystem Marketplace notes that some ARR, IFM and REDD+ projects produce both kinds of creditSource 2.
A higher price is not a quality score
The averages reflect what buyers paid, not how well each project performs. Within any project type, credits can be strong or weak. Check the methodology, the CCP label and the public registry record of the credits you are offered.
Engineered removals: biochar and beyond
Biochar averaged over $160 per tonne in 2024, more than 25 times the market averageSource 2. Biochar is plant material heated with little oxygen into a stable charcoal that holds carbon. Biochar made up less than 1% of the transactions Ecosystem Marketplace recorded, and it reports that ARR credits are on average ten times less expensive than credits from novel engineered project typesSource 2. In August 2025 the ICVCM approved three biochar methodologies, from CAR, Isometric and VerraSource 6.
Other engineered removals, such as direct air capture and enhanced weathering, are not in the table. We found no openly published average price for them, so we leave them out rather than estimate.
Market averages: reductions vs removals
The last rows of the table give averages across many project types:
- All voluntary credits: the average price paid per credit retired was $6.12 in 2026 so far and $6.92 in Q3 2026Source 1.
- All reduction credits averaged $4.05–$4.64 per tonne in 2023 and 2024Source 2.
- All removal credits averaged $17.28–$19.50 per tonne in 2023 and 2024Source 2.
Ecosystem Marketplace puts the premium for removals over reductions at 381% in 2024, up from 245% in 2023Source 2. Removals were still only 5% of the volume tradedSource 2. Our guide to removal vs avoidance credits explains the difference, and why carbon credit prices differ covers the other drivers, such as vintage and co-benefits.
How to use these prices when you buy
Each type has its own guide in our project types section, including blue carbon and how to build a portfolio across several types.
- Pick the type first. Decide whether you want avoidance, removal or a mix, then use the range for that type to budget.
- Work out how many credits you need. Our carbon credits calculator turns tonnes into a number of credits and a price range.
- Compare like with like. Compare quotes for the same project type and a similar vintage. A quote far outside the range is worth questioning.
- Check quality, not just price. Our guide to high-quality carbon credits lists what to look for, and how to verify carbon credits shows how to check a registry record.
Retail sellers usually set their own fixed price per tonne, so the price you are quoted for a small purchase can differ from these averages.
Where the figures come from
The market average and the three forest types come from Sylvera’s Carbon Market Data Snapshot for Q3 2026, which reports the average price paid for credits retired and, for some project types, splits it by Sylvera’s own quality ratingSource 1. The other types come from Ecosystem Marketplace’s State of the Voluntary Carbon Market 2025, which reports transactions submitted by market participants and describes its estimates as lower bounds for the whole marketSource 2. Those ranges are the lower and higher of the 2023 and 2024 averages, so they show how much the average moved, not the spread of individual deals.
We don’t use licensed price indexes or scrape sellers. We review this page monthly with the carbon credit price snapshot and update it when a newer openly published source appears.