ART Registry and Serialised TREES Credits

Updated 2026-11-02 · 3 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

The ART registry explained: how serialised TREES credits are issued, moved and retired, profile types, FCPF and ISFL reissuance, and Indonesia's options.

The ART Registry is where Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) issues and tracks TREES credits: serialised units for verified jurisdictional REDD+ emission reductions and removals, each equal to one tonne of CO2-equivalent. The registry records every issuance, transfer, retirement and cancellation, and publishes registration and verification documents so that the same tonne cannot be sold twice.

ART works only with jurisdictions, meaning national governments or, in some cases, subnational governments. It does not credit individual projects. Read ART TREES for the standard itself.

What the registry does

• Issues TREES credits after independent verification against TREES measurement, monitoring, reporting and safeguards requirements.
• Serialises every credit so each tonne has a unique identity.
• Records transfers, retirements and cancellations. Trading happens outside the registry, over the counter or on an approved linked exchange or platform. Counterparties record the transfer in the registry.
• Publishes documents and reports. Registration documents, verification reports and public issuance, retirement and cancellation reports.
• Reissues World Bank credits. FCPF and ISFL credits issued in the World Bank’s Carbon Assets Tracking System (CATS) can be cancelled there and reissued on the ART Registry.

Profile types

Opening a profile step by step

ART lists five steps:

1. Review registry documents.
2. Determine the government entity and a Designated Signatory with authority to bind the organisation.
3. Complete the new profile application form.
4. ART Registry team review, with an approval email to the Designated Signatory.
5. First login, where the Designated Signatory electronically signs the ART Registry Terms of Use.

ART says approval typically takes one to two weeks once all documents are received.

From programme to credit step by step

1. Register the programme. The jurisdiction submits a TREES Registration Document.
2. Validation and verification. An approved VVB checks the programme and its monitoring results.
3. Issuance. ART issues serialised TREES credits into the jurisdiction’s account, after buffer deductions.
4. Transaction. The jurisdiction sells credits. Buyers hold them in Transaction profiles.
5. Retirement. The buyer retires credits against a claim, which the registry records publicly.

TREES 3.0 and the transition

ART released TREES 3.0 on 25 June 2026, citing four years of experience across 26 participating programmes. Jurisdictions with an accepted TREES Registration Document may complete their current crediting period under TREES 2.0. All others must use TREES 3.0. A time-bound transition pathway, developed with the World Bank, gives FCPF and ISFL jurisdictions a route to continued finance through ART. ART also announced that new validations and verifications must use version 3.0 of its validation and verification standard, while those begun before August 2026 may continue under the previous version.

ART says jurisdictional programmes on its registry cover more than 400 million hectares, nearly 25% of the world’s tropical forests.

Integrity status

ICVCM lists ART TREES as a CCP-Eligible programme. In a later batch of decisions, ICVCM required remedial actions for the TREES v2.0 HFLD crediting level, noting that 58.4 million HFLD credits issued to date are not eligible for CCP labels, and for the v2.0 removals crediting level. Read ART TREES HFLD. Check the ICVCM status page for later decisions.

Indonesia and Southeast Asia

Indonesia has worked with World Bank results-based programmes at provincial level, including FCPF in East Kalimantan. The CATS-to-ART reissuance route matters for any such credits. Any ART participation also has to fit national rules: Perpres 110/2025, national registration in SRUK for exchange-traded units, and authorisation and corresponding adjustment decisions. Read corresponding adjustments in Indonesia.

For projects, the question is nesting. Read project vs jurisdictional REDD+ and ART TREES vs VCS JNR.

Questions for buyers of TREES credits

Ask which TREES version the credits were issued under, which crediting level applies, whether the credits carry a CCP label, and whether the host country has authorised them for any specific use. Check the public issuance and retirement reports on the registry. Our due diligence service reviews jurisdictional credits.

Pitfalls to watch

• Unclear authority of the applying government entity or signatory.
• Double claims between jurisdictional credits and project credits in the same area.
• Assuming all TREES credits carry CCP labels.

See the REDD+ hub and the standards hub.