Prove it, or sell it
Two different instruments, often confused. Certificates let you claim renewable electricity you did not generate. Carbon credits let you sell the emissions you avoided. Most companies need one, not both.
Start here
They point in opposite directions
A Renewable Energy Certificate is something you buy to substantiate a claim about electricity you consumed. A carbon credit is something you sell because you avoided emissions someone else wants to offset. Getting this the wrong way round is the most common mistake we see in ESG conversations.
You buy RECs when you cannot generate
Leased premises, unsuitable roofs, or demand far exceeding what your site can produce. One REC represents one megawatt-hour generated from a certified renewable source, tracked with a unique serial number so it can only be claimed once.
You sell credits when you already generate
A commissioned solar plant avoids emissions that would otherwise have come from the grid. Registered under a recognised standard, that avoidance becomes a tradable instrument and a second revenue line on top of the electricity savings.
Certificates
What RECs actually do for you
Scope 2 reporting
Certificates address indirect emissions from purchased electricity, which is where most manufacturers' reported footprint sits and where buyers apply pressure first.
Recognised frameworks
Accepted under the GHG Protocol and used in CDP disclosure and RE100 commitments, so the claim holds up in the reporting systems your customers already run.
Auditable by design
Each certificate carries a serial number in a tracking registry such as I-REC or TIGR, retired against your claim so the same megawatt-hour cannot be counted twice.
RECs substantiate a claim about electricity. They do not reduce what your site physically consumes, and a buyer auditing you closely will know the difference.
Carbon markets in 2026
The mechanism changed, and most guidance has not caught up
Anyone still being offered registration under the Clean Development Mechanism should ask questions. Following COP30, the CDM is being wound down through 2026, with its functions progressively switched off and its remaining funds redirected. Its successor is the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism, established under Article 6.4.
The practical read for a factory owner: for voluntary market sales, the Verified Carbon Standard and Gold Standard are where most solar projects still register. PACM is real but not yet fully operational, with methodology approval still the bottleneck. We will tell you honestly whether your project volume justifies registration at all, because below a certain generation level the verification cost eats the revenue.
Sources: UNFCCC Article 6.4 Supervisory Body; COP30 outcomes, November 2025; market reporting on first PACM issuance, February 2026.
Why bother
What carbon revenue changes
It improves project returns
Carbon revenue layers on top of electricity savings rather than replacing them. On a large array that can move the internal rate of return enough to change an investment decision that was otherwise marginal.
It strengthens the ESG position
Verified reductions carry more weight with investors and buyers than a sustainability narrative does, because a third party has checked them and they exist in a registry.
It supports green finance access
Documented environmental performance helps when applying for green facilities and green bond eligibility, where lenders need evidence rather than intent.
It is not free money
Registration, validation and periodic verification all cost money and take time. We would rather tell you the volume does not justify it than sell you a process that returns less than it costs.
Buying certificates or selling credits?
Tell us what your buyers are asking for and what you generate today, and we will tell you which instrument you actually need.