Registry Accounts

There are 5 types of accounts on the UK Land Carbon Registry. All accounts are public: 

Project Developer accounts: For organisations/individuals that own or manage projects, issue Pending Issuance Units or Woodland/Peatland Carbon Units and transfer units to corporate end users, retail aggregators or traders or assign/retire them on behalf of their clients.

Project Proponent accounts: For organisations/ individuals that own projects but do not manage their own project or issue the Pending Issuance Units or Woodland/Peatland Carbon Units in the registry. A project developer can transfer units to the project proponents of the projects they have listed, or a project’s units can be directly listed in the project proponent’s account. Project proponents can transfer units to corporate end users, retail aggregators or traders or assign/retire them on behalf of buyers. 

Buyer accounts: For organisations which buy carbon credits from Woodland Carbon Code/Peatland Code projects for their own use or for their clients; this includes: 

Corporate End User accounts: For those who are ‘buying to use’ and can receive Pending Issuance Units (to use/retire once verified) or Woodland/Peatland Carbon Units (which can be used/retired immediately). It is not possible to sell on any unused units. 

Trading accounts: For those who are ‘buying to sell on’ and can receive Pending Issuance Units or Woodland/Peatland Carbon Units and assign/retire them on behalf of their clients or transfer them upon sale to other market participants. However, trading account holders must be registered and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to carry out a regulated activity under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 or appropriate, equivalent local regulatory authority. See the Financial Services Register. 

For companies not registered and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, a Retail Aggregator account gives limited functionality. Retail aggregators who are buying on behalf of their corporate end user clients can receive Pending Issuance Units or Peatland Carbon Units from a project developer or project proponent and assign or retire them immediately on behalf of their ‘end user’ clients. Assigned units can be transferred into the account of ‘end user’ clients as appropriate. 

Can individuals hold a buyer account? 

No. An individual can only buy verified Peatland Carbon Units to retire immediately – they could buy direct from the project developer or from someone with a retail aggregator/ trading account, who can ‘retire’ the units on their behalf making clear the reason (e.g. ‘Retired in 2020 on behalf of Mr Smith to compensate for his March 2019 household emissions’). 

How do I sign up for an account on the registry? 

You can open an account by completing a Markit Environmental Registry form. A member of the Peatland Code team will be in touch to discuss your account following submission.  

How much does it cost to open an account? 

It is free to open an account for Project Developers and Project Proponents, there is a cost however for corporate end user, trading and retail aggregator accounts. Please see our Registry Fees (link to subpage) webpage for further information. 

I’m still not sure which kind of account I need… 

That’s ok! Contact peatlandcode@iucn.org.uk and we’ll help you out.