# Carbon Credit Buffer Pools by Registry | CRBN.credit **URL:** https://crbn.credit/buffer-pools **Summary:** How many credits Verra, ACR, Climate Action Reserve and other registries hold against reversals, how many were drawn, and a scenario you set. Free. --- Free data and scenario, no account # Carbon Credit Buffer Pools: What registries hold against reversals A buffer pool is the reserve of credits that forestry and other land projects set aside to cover carbon that is later lost. Registry records show 159.5 million credits paid into buffers, 14.3 million cancelled to cover reversals and 6.6 million released back to projects, leaving **138.6 million**. Source: Berkeley Voluntary Registry Offsets Database ยท Data as of June 2026 ## Buffer pools by registry | Registry | Contributing projects | Deposited | Reversals covered | Not covered | Released | Recorded balance | Share of issuance deposited | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Verra | 302 | 88,578,205 | 5,684,505 | 0 | 6,591,601 | 76,302,099 | 14.3% | | ACR | 205 | 41,174,408 | 6,813,968 | 1,343,845 | 0 | 34,360,440 | 22.7% | | Climate Action Reserve | 426 | 24,147,080 | 1,801,593 | 3,072,330 | 5,002 | 22,340,485 | 22.6% | | ART TREES | 2 | 3,644,366 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,644,366 | 6.1% | | Gold Standard | 53 | 1,907,611 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,907,611 | 3.7% | | Isometric | 23 | 3,229 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,229 | 2.9% | Credits, summed from project-level records. Recorded balance is deposits less reversals covered and releases. Share of issuance deposited is deposits over all credits issued to contributing projects. A registry's own pool account can differ. ### Verra: where deposits come from - Forestry & Land Use99% - Agriculture0.79% 8 projects with reversals recorded ### ACR: where deposits come from - Forestry & Land Use100% 17 projects with reversals recorded ### Climate Action Reserve: where deposits come from - Forestry & Land Use99% - Agriculture1% 21 projects with reversals recorded ## Projects with the largest recorded reversals 46 projects have a reversal on record. These are the twenty largest, by credits reversed, covered by a buffer or not. | Project | Registry | Location | Covered | Not covered | Issued | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Finite Carbon - Colville IFMACR0255 | ACR | Washington, United States | 5,532,868 | 0 | 12,690,619 | | KARIBA REDD+ PROJECTVCS902 | Verra | Zimbabwe | 5,049,473 | 0 | 29,016,364 | | Green Diamond Resource Company Klamath East IFMACR0273 | ACR | Oregon, United States | 1,145,363 | 0 | 937,784 | | Trinity Timberlands University Hill Improved Forest Management ProjectCAR1046 | Climate Action Reserve | California, United States | 847,895 | 0 | 685,099 | | Willits Woods IFMCAR1140 | Climate Action Reserve | California, United States | 119,018 | 681,970 | 739,433 | | Sacramento Canyon ARB001CAR1041 | Climate Action Reserve | California, United States | 0 | 662,284 | 652,903 | | Save the Redwoods League 2018CAR1313 | Climate Action Reserve | California, United States | 0 | 440,956 | 370,976 | | Nuveen Upper Piedmont Conservation AreaACR0781 | ACR | South Carolina, North Carolina, United States | 0 | 385,129 | 315,158 | | White Mountain Apache Tribe Carbon Project IIACR0303 | ACR | Arizona, United States | 0 | 348,989 | 5,622,742 | | Finite Carbon - Alma Land Company IFMCAR1208 | Climate Action Reserve | Kentucky, United States | 337,587 | 0 | 717,217 | | Puget Sound Energy Baker-White River Forest Carbon ProjectACR0539 | ACR | Washington, United States | 0 | 334,269 | 274,101 | | Buck Mountain ARB002CAR1066 | Climate Action Reserve | California, United States | 0 | 302,354 | 312,705 | | Finite Carbon - Berry SummitCAR1004 | Climate Action Reserve | California, United States | 0 | 287,046 | 239,205 | | Forest Carbon Partners -- Eddie Ranch Improved Forest Management ProjectCAR1174 | Climate Action Reserve | California, United States | 276,867 | 0 | 226,960 | | Sustainable Mountain IFMCAR1067 | Climate Action Reserve | California, United States | 0 | 243,548 | 3,509 | | Forest Carbon Partners - Mescalero Apache Tribe Improved Forest Management ProjectCAR1183 | Climate Action Reserve | New Mexico, United States | 0 | 242,355 | 3,855,215 | | Montesol - Forest Carbon Partners Improved Forest Management ProjectCAR1102 | Climate Action Reserve | California, United States | 210,543 | 0 | 191,842 | | Guinan Afforestation ProjectVCS2070 | Verra | China | 191,989 | 0 | 1,727,894 | | Qianxinan Afforestation Project in Guizhou ProvinceVCS1847 | Verra | China | 154,894 | 0 | 1,394,041 | | Cumberland Forest Highlands IFMACR0248 | ACR | Virginia, United States | 0 | 138,772 | 3,190,679 | ## How long would a buffer last? Run a scenario Pick a pool and an annual reversal rate. Leave a field empty to use the pool's own recorded figure. The result runs your rate and two and five times it, from the recorded balance. ## How buffer pools work Carbon stored in trees and soil can be lost again. A forest that earned credits for staying standing can burn, be cut or die back. Because a credit is meant to stand for one tonne kept out of the atmosphere permanently, registries that credit stored carbon ask each project to put part of its credits into a shared pool instead of selling them. **Deposits.** The share set aside depends on the project's assessed risk of reversal. Verra assesses it with its AFOLU non-permanence risk tool; ACR and the Climate Action Reserve use their own assessments. Riskier projects contribute a larger share. **Covered reversals.** When a project loses stored carbon through something it could not reasonably prevent, such as a wildfire, the registry cancels credits from the pool to match the loss. The credits buyers hold are not touched. **Uncovered reversals.** When the loss is the project's own doing, such as harvesting beyond what was allowed, registries generally require the owner to compensate it by retiring other credits rather than drawing on the pool. These show here as reversals not covered. **Releases.** Some registries return buffer credits to a project over time, for example when its risk rating falls. Releases reduce the pool's balance even though nothing was lost. A pool is only as strong as the gap between what goes in and what comes out. If losses grow faster than deposits, for instance because fires become more frequent, the balance shrinks. That is the question the scenario above lets you test, with your own rate. ## Questions ### What is a carbon credit buffer pool? A reserve of credits that projects at risk of reversal, mostly forestry and land use, set aside when their credits are issued. If stored carbon is later lost to fire, disease or logging, credits are cancelled from the pool to cover the loss, so credits already sold and retired stay whole. ### How big are the registry buffer pools? Project-level records show 159.5 million credits deposited into buffers across the registries covered, 14.3 million cancelled to cover reversals and 6.6 million released back to projects, leaving 138.6 million. Verra's pool is the largest, at 76.3 million credits by these records. ### What is the difference between covered and uncovered reversals? A covered reversal is a loss of stored carbon compensated by cancelling credits from the buffer pool. An uncovered reversal is one the buffer did not pay for, typically an intentional reversal, such as harvesting beyond what the project allowed, which registries generally require the project owner to make good by retiring other credits. ### Can a buffer pool run out? Yes, if reversals over time exceed what projects have paid in. California's compliance forest offset buffer has been the subject of published research arguing that wildfire losses were eating into it faster than it was sized for. The scenario on this page shows how long a pool's recorded balance would last at a reversal rate you choose. ### Why might these figures differ from a registry's own report? They are summed from the project-level buffer records in Berkeley's Voluntary Registry Offsets Database. A registry's own pool account can include adjustments that are not recorded against individual projects, and the database is a snapshot released every few months. ### Is the scenario a forecast? No. It is arithmetic on the rate you enter, run alongside two and five times that rate. It is not a probability, a climate projection or a judgement on any registry. Related: the hazard exposure of each nature-based project is on its [Credit Passport](https://crbn.credit/credit-passport), the [offtake calculator](https://crbn.credit/offtake-calculator) shows what delivery shortfall does to a forward contract, and the [methodology pages](https://crbn.credit/methodologies) show each methodology's projects and ICVCM status. Our guide to [carbon credit buffer pools](https://crbn.credit/post/carbon-credit-buffer-pools-explained-2026) explains the figures in depth. General information from registry records. Not a rating of any registry or project, and not investment advice.