American Carbon Registry (ACR) is a nonprofit carbon crediting program and registry that develops standards and methodologies for quantifying, verifying, and issuing greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and removals. Established in 1996 as an enterprise of Winrock International, ACR is among the earliest voluntary GHG registries. It oversees independent third‑party verification and issues serialized credits (Emission Reduction Tons, ERTs) across sectors including forestry and land use, agriculture, methane and other industrial emissions, renewable energy, and carbon capture and storage.
ACR operates a transparent registry to track project documentation, credit issuance, ownership, and retirement, with safeguards for additionality, permanence, and leakage. Its protocols are widely used by companies to address residual Scope 1, 2, and in some cases Scope 3 emissions in the voluntary carbon market. ACR’s technical focus and methodology development make it relevant to energy-intensive and industrial value chains, including chemicals, seeking credible, standards-based climate accounting.
