Financial incentives for businesses to reduce their carbon emissions

Overview

The ACCU scheme incentivises people and businesses to run projects that reduce emissions or store carbon, for example by:

• using new technology
• upgrading equipment
• changing business practices to improve productivity or energy use
• changing the way vegetation is managed to store more carbon.

Eligible projects include those associated with:

• vegetation management
• agriculture
• energy consumption
• waste
• transport
• coal and gas production
• industrial processes.

Participants in the scheme can earn ACCUs for every tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent they store or avoid emitting. ACCUs can be sold and can generate participants an income.

Check if you can apply

Participation in the scheme is open to individuals, sole traders, companies, local, state and territory government bodies and trusts.

To be eligible, projects must:

• be new
• go beyond business-as-usual activities
• not be required by law
• not be receiving financial support from specified government programs, such as the New South Wales and Victorian energy efficiency schemes
• follow an approved method, which sets out the rules for running the project and estimating emissions reductions
• not be an excluded activity listed in the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015.