ACR Climate Brief | July 2026

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July 24, 2026

Big Steps Forward

In the last few months, the ACR team has achieved several significant milestones that were years in the making: we successfully launched a new ACR registry platform with the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), we published the long-awaited update to ACR’s Carbon Capture and Storage methodology version 2.0, and we published the public comment draft of the first-of-a-kind sectoral crediting approach, the Standard for the Transformation of the Electric Power Sector (STEPS).
On its own, each accomplishment is worthy of celebration. Combined, they represented the culmination of years of work, making for a busy spring and summer for the ACR team.

In June, the Intercontinental Exchange announced the launch of ICE GreenTrace™, an environmental registry technology service to bring cutting-edge financial market infrastructure and technology to carbon credit registries for the first time. As noted in the announcement, “ICE GreenTrace™ is a leap forward in leveraging ICE’s trusted financial market infrastructure to scale carbon markets,” said Mary Grady, CEO of Environmental Resources Trust. “Our globally recognized crediting programs – ACR and ART – are now positioned to meet the demands of institutional investors around the world. We are incredibly excited about what this will enable for the evolution of carbon markets globally.”

In May, ACR published version 2.0 of its Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) methodology, significantly increasing opportunities to incentivize CCS in the United States and Canada. The updated ACR methodology expands eligible geologic storage reservoirs to include saline reservoirs and depleted oil and gas reservoirs, enabling projects in significantly more geographic regions and leading to much greater storage capacity. ACR also extended CO₂ source eligibility from fossil fuel-derived sources to include carbon dioxide removal (CDR) through direct air capture (DAC), bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and biomass with carbon removal and storage (BiCRS). All scenarios that limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius under the Paris Climate Agreement include CCS due to the need for rapid and deep emission reductions across all sectors, so ACR is pleased to have a practical, high-impact methodology available for use.

Earlier this month, the public comment period closed for STEPS, a first-of-a-kind jurisdictional scale, sector-wide carbon crediting standard. After two years of development, the STEPS team within ACR was very excited to see their hard work moving forward, with a goal to achieve earlier and deeper electric power sector emission reductions that contribute to Paris Agreement climate targets. The team expects to publish the standard this year to support energy sector decarbonization strategies being implemented by several countries with support of the World Bank.

ll told, it’s been a very busy time at ACR. Each of these big steps forward reinforces ACR’s innovative and pragmatic approach to scalable climate action.

Sincerely,

Mary Grady, Executive Director, ACR

SPOTLIGHT

Steps Earn ICAO Approval

ACR Scope of Eligibility for Global Aviation’s Carbon Market Expanded to Include Electric Power Sector Credits

ACR announces the finding of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that units generated under the Standard for the Transformation of the Electric Power Sector (STEPS) are consistent with ACR’s existing ICAO approval, thus extending the scope of eligibility of ACR-issued credits for compliance under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) to include STEPS Credits.

Learn more

SPOTLIGHT

Q&A with ACR Hunter Parks Fellow, Kate Johnston

In 2023, ACR co-created the Hunter Parks Conservation Fellowship in partnership with Green Assets. The two-year Fellowship, which serves as a remembrance of Green Assets’ founder, is awarded to a recent forestry graduate on a competitive basis. In 2025, Kate Johnston became the second Hunter Parks Fellow. We talked with her recently to introduce Kate to the ACR community.

Learn more

ACR UPDATES

ICE and ERT Launch New Environmental Registry Technology Service

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), launched ICE GreenTrace™ in June 2026, an environmental registry technology service to bring cutting-edge financial market infrastructure and technology to carbon credit registries for the first time. ERT now leverages this platform to power its world-leading crediting programs: ACR, ART and STEPS.

Read the full announcement here

ACR Expands Eligible Sources and Storage in CCS Methodology

In May 2026, ACR published version 2.0 of its Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) methodology, which significantly increases opportunities to incentivize CCS in the United States and Canada. The updated ACR methodology expands eligible geologic storage reservoirs and CO2 source eligibility.

Read the full announcement here

Supporting Forest Stewardship in Timber Country

Robert Lane grew up visiting his grandfather’s camp on the banks of the Ouachita River in the heart of timber country, part of a property known as the Mineral Lands. Today, it is part of a forest carbon project being developed by NativState.

Read the case study here

ACR at New York Climate Week 2026

ACR will be participating in events at New York Climate Week from September 21-25, 2026. As our plans begin to take shape, we would love to hear from partners who are also considering their participation. If you’d like to explore ideas with us, please get in touch with Brad Kahn. Thank you.

30 Years of Climate Impact

For 30 years, ACR has helped shape the evolution of carbon markets, from establishing the world’s first private greenhouse gas crediting program and issuing the world’s first serialized carbon credits, to helping pioneer the next generation of carbon crediting.

Watch our 30 years of climate impact video