Chapter 01 · Climate & transitionCarbon Markets & Offsetting
Climate Action Reserve (CAR)
Definition
A US-based non-profit carbon crediting programme that develops offset protocols, registers projects and issues carbon credits. Founded in 2001 as the California Climate Action Registry for voluntary emissions reporting, it evolved into a project registry and standard-setter serving the voluntary carbon market and acting as an approved Offset Project Registry for compliance programmes, including California's and Washington State's cap-and-trade systems.
References
2001 California Climate Action Registry origin (>415 reporting entities); current registry/standards role; OPR status for California and Washington; voluntary and compliance services.
CAR among the leading four programmes; protocol strengths (natural climate solutions, methane, industrial gases); >169 Mt verified by 2021; North American focus.
Overview
What it means
CAR is one of the four leading offset programmes alongside Verra, Gold Standard and the American Carbon Registry, distinguished by its North American project focus and protocol strengths in forestry, methane destruction and industrial gases — over 169 million tonnes of reductions verified by 2021.
Its dual voluntary/compliance role makes it a structural link between the two markets: the same registry infrastructure that issues voluntary credits also supplies compliance offsets to regulated entities. Its history — a state-created registry that predated carbon markets — illustrates how US carbon accounting institutions grew bottom-up in the absence of federal policy.
How it is used
Project developers register under CAR protocols; buyers procure CAR-issued credits for voluntary neutrality claims; California and Washington covered entities use CAR-registered offsets within allowance budgets; integrity assessments benchmark its protocols against ICVCM criteria.
Why it matters
CAR shows how subnational institutions seeded the carbon-market infrastructure that later became global — and remains a live test of offset integrity in compliance use.