Most carbon credit budgets are set backwards: someone asks what the company spent last year and adds a percentage. That works until the mix changes, and in 2027 it will for many companies. Durable removal credits cost ten to a hundred times more than avoidance credits, so a modest shift in the mix moves the budget far more than any change in volume.
This guide sets a carbon credit budget from the ground up, in four steps, with three worked examples. All prices used are public reference prices with a date; they are not quotes.
The short answer. Carbon credit budget = (tonnes per credit type × price per tonne for that type) + fees and costs. Set the volume for 2027, choose the mix, price each type with a low-mid-high range and add costs. Present the result as a range, and show the trend to 2035.
Step 1: Set your volume for 2027
The volume is the emissions you expect to still have in 2027, times the share you decide to cover. Use your 2027 projection, especially if reduction measures are coming in; last year’s footprint overstates the volume. Our guide on how many carbon credits your company needs walks through the calculation.
Decide which scopes you cover. Scope 1 and 2 only is the most common starting point; adding scope 3 can multiply the volume. Whatever you cover, describe it as a contribution. Since 27 September 2026, EU rules ban carbon neutral claims based on credits towards consumers.
Free tool
Not sure what volume to budget for 2027?
Enter your emissions and targets and the planner gives you the volume per year and a budget range.
Open the planner
Free · no account needed
Step 2: Choose your credit mix
The mix decides the budget more than anything else. Three common profiles, the same presets Regreener’s planner uses:
Profile | Avoidance credits | Nature-based removals | Durable removals |
|---|---|---|---|
Cost efficient | 80% | 20% | 0% |
Balanced | 70% | 15% | 15% |
High quality | 30% | 50% | 20% |
If you are a Category A company under SBTi V2, plan the move towards removals now. The removal requirement starts in 2035 at 1% of all ongoing emissions and rises every year after that; our article on SBTi carbon removal requirements shows how fast. Buying some removals in 2027 builds supplier relationships before demand peaks.
Step 3: Price each credit type with a range
Use a low, mid and high price per type, from dated public sources:
Credit type | Low | Mid | High | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Avoidance and reduction | USD 3.60 | USD 8.60 | USD 12.90 | Low and mid: MSCI, July 2026 (12-month average, higher-quality average). High: mid plus 50%, our planning buffer for premium or CCP-labelled credits |
Nature-based removal | USD 9.12 | USD 15 | USD 28.55 | Sylvera, H1 2026 (reforestation rated BB or lower, and BBB or higher); MSCI, July 2026 (short-lived removals) |
Durable removal | USD 130 | USD 136 | USD 352 | MSCI, July 2026 (long-lived minimum average); CDR.fyi weighted averages read 6 October 2026 (biochar; enhanced rock weathering as high) |
Prices move. Recheck the references when you finalise the budget, and replace them with actual offers once you have them. Our overview of carbon removal credit prices explains the removal ranges in more detail.
Step 4: Add fees and other costs
Price per tonne is not the whole cost. Ask every supplier for retirement and registry fees, any service or platform fee, and whether VAT applies to your purchase, and add them on a separate line. For multi-year purchases, include the indexation in the contract. Comparing offers on an all-in price per tonne avoids surprises; our article on why carbon credit quotes differ shows how.
Free tool
Compare spot and offtake for your budget
See what your credit mix costs per year when you buy spot and when you fix the price with an offtake.
Open the planner
Free · no account needed
Three worked examples
The examples use the price ranges above and leave out fees. Figures are rounded.
Example 1: a services company covering scope 1 and 2
A Dutch services company expects 400 tCO2e of scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2027 and covers all of it with a cost-efficient mix: 320 t of avoidance credits and 80 t of nature-based removals.
Low | Mid | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
Budget 2027 | USD 1,900 | USD 4,000 | USD 6,400 |
Per tonne | USD 4.70 | USD 9.90 | USD 16.00 |
At this size, quality and claims matter more than the amount: a small budget spent on well-documented projects goes further than a large one spent on credits you cannot explain.
Example 2: a manufacturer preparing for SBTi V2
The illustrative Dutch company from our guide on credit volumes: 1,444 tCO2e of scope 1 and 2 in 2027, Category A under SBTi V2, with a balanced mix of 1,011 t avoidance, 217 t nature-based removals and 217 t durable removals.
Low | Mid | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
Budget 2027 | USD 33,800 | USD 41,400 | USD 95,500 |
Per tonne | USD 23.40 | USD 28.70 | USD 66.10 |
Durable removals are 15% of the volume and around 70% of the mid budget. That is the pattern to expect from 2035, when SBTi’s removal requirement starts.
Example 3: a large company covering all scopes
A company covering 12,000 tCO2e across scopes 1 to 3 with a high-quality mix: 3,600 t avoidance, 6,000 t nature-based removals and 2,400 t durable removals.
Low | Mid | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
Budget 2027 | USD 380,000 | USD 447,000 | USD 1,063,000 |
Per tonne | USD 31.60 | USD 37.30 | USD 88.60 |
The gap between mid and high comes mostly from durable removal prices. For a budget of this size, securing part of the durable volume through a multi-year contract narrows that range.
Spot or offtake in the budget
Buying spot each year keeps flexibility; the budget follows market prices. An offtake fixes the price and volume for several years, which makes the budget predictable and secures supply, but it can cost more if prices stay low. For avoidance credits, spot buying is common. For durable removals, where most capacity is sold years ahead, an offtake agreement is often the only way to secure volume for a given year. Our guide to spot, forward and offtake pricing covers the trade-off.
Tip from Bernard de Wit, Co-founder of Regreener: “CFOs do not like a single number that turns out wrong. Give them a range with the assumptions written next to it, and show what happens to the budget from 2030 to 2035. The conversation changes from ‘why so much?’ to ‘which removals do we want to lock in now?’.”
Present it as a multi-year plan
A 2027 budget on its own invites the question of what comes next. Show three things next to it: the volume and budget for 2027 to 2030, the effect of the SBTi V2 removal requirement from 2035 if you are Category A, and the decision on spot versus offtake. That turns an annual expense into a plan that finance can approve once and revisit each year.
Get your budget per year
Regreener’s free planner does all four steps for every year to your net-zero target: enter your emissions, targets and coverage choice, and you get your volume per credit type and a low, mid and high carbon credit budget per year, with a spot versus offtake comparison and a PDF to share internally.
When you are ready to turn the budget into actual offers, talk to a Climate Strategist. Every project we offer has passed our 100+ datapoint quality framework.
