Welcome to our monthly update on the voluntary carbon market. This month, we analyze the carbon credit retirements for January 2026. As the year draws to a close, we typically see a rush of activity as corporates settle their accounts for the calendar year. This December was no exception, characterized by massive volumes from the energy sector and a significant market correction event by a major standard body.

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Let’s dive into records for this month!

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Please note that:

The headline story for January is the dominance of Etsy and Salesforce, who together retired nearly half a million tonnes of CO2e. However, the types of projects being supported are shifting. We are seeing a move away from standard renewables and towards more niche industrial gases, methane abatement, and infrastructure innovations.

Here are the most significant activities observed in the data:

Etsy was a massive mover this month, retiring approximately 260,000 tonnes of CO2e. What stands out is their project selection. While they supported traditional gas leak reduction in Bangladesh, a significant portion of their portfolio went to a unique project type: "Recycling Roadways for Carbon Emission Reductions" (VCS3616). This project focuses on reclaiming and recycling pavement materials, reducing the need for virgin asphalt and the associated high-emission production processes.

Salesforce followed closely with over 200,000 tonnes retired. Their strategy focused heavily on high-impact methane avoidance, specifically targeting Landfill Gas projects in Brazil (e.g., Ecoparque Sergipe and Uberlândia). This aligns with a broader tech sector trend of targeting potent short-lived climate pollutants like methane.

We saw a massive retirement volume (~185,000 tonnes) associated with Ascend Performance Materials. These retirements were sourced largely from Nitric Acid abatement projects (e.g., CAR1624).

The retirement notes specifically mention "remove impact of generated credits on PCF disclosures" (Product Carbon Footprint). This indicates an insetting or product-level decarbonization strategy, where an industrial player is effectively retiring credits generated from its own (or peer) supply chain improvements to claim lower carbon intensity for its sold products (nylons, plastics, etc.).

Church & Dwight, the parent company behind major household brands like Arm & Hammer, executed a clean block retirement of 100,000 tonnes. They directed this entire volume toward the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary REDD+ project in Cambodia. This is a classic, high-volume support of forest conservation, signaling that despite market critiques, major consumer brands still view REDD+ as a vital part of their corporate responsibility mix.

Workday retired over 120,000 tonnes, primarily utilizing the American Carbon Registry (ACR). Their portfolio leans heavily into "Abandoned Wells" methane plugging projects (e.g., Tradewater OOG). Plugging orphaned oil and gas wells is widely considered a high-quality offset type because it offers immediate, permanent, and measurable prevention of methane leakage.

The financial sector remains a steady buyer. S&P Global retired roughly 58,000 tonnes across forestry and landfill gas projects. Interestingly, we also observed widespread activity from China Construction Bank, with numerous local branches (Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, etc.) retiring credits to claim carbon neutrality for their specific headquarters or office buildings.

Summary charts on amounts retired sorted by sector, country, and company are below:

If you are a subscriber, you can find a complete list of retirement records with the project information for this month, as well as a chart of the top companies that retired the most credits, in the Google Spreadsheet at the bottom of this article.

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The information provided in this carbon credit retirement database is intended for informational purposes only. While we strive to ensure the accuracy of the data, we cannot guarantee its completeness or correctness. The data is compiled from publicly available sources and may be subject to errors, omissions, or updates not yet reflected in our records.
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Registry Scope: Note that the dataset is limited to the following voluntary carbon credit registries: American Carbon Registry (ACR), ART TREES (ART), Climate Action Reserve (CAR), Gold Standard (GLD), and Verra (VCS). Retirements from other registries are not included in this analysis.
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