Carbon Markets

UPDATE: ACCUs reach 20-month high, uplift tempered as Government opens FY26/27 Safeguard review consultation

A second consecutive week of strong buy-side support lifted ACCU spot prices to their highest level since December 2024, with the rally accompanied by pockets of forward liquidity for delivery into the close of the compliance year. While the opening of the Safeguard Mechanism review consultation coincided with the week’s heaviest spot trading volumes, the initial market response was relatively muted, with Friday’s publication marking the first step of a multi-stage review process.

RepuTex’s Carbon Weekly report breaks down activity in the Australian exchange-traded and OTC carbon markets (spot and derivatives), including recent trends, drivers, and our latest spot and forward pricing benchmarks.

Government commences FY26/27 Safeguard Mechanism review consultation process

On Friday August 7, the Australian Government formally commenced the FY26/27 Safeguard Mechanism Review, releasing a consultation paper outlining options to align the scheme with Australia’s 2035 emissions reduction target.

As we have regularly flagged, the review is not intended to fundamentally reform the Safeguard Mechanism, instead recalibrating key elements such as baseline decline rates, flexibility arrangements, and others to ensure the current policy framework is fit for purpose as the market moves into the post-2030 period.

As we outline in our Analyst briefing, published on Friday,

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