ART Registry Transition FAQs
Updated February 12, 2026
Why is ART migrating its registry to the ICE GreenTrace™ registry platform?
To meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, carbon markets must grow dramatically. To support that market growth, ERT – including ACR and ART – is bringing our nearly 30 years of carbon market experience to a partnership with ICE to deliver a transformational registry platform. The ICE GreenTraceTM registry technology platform will be rolled out in phases, and when fully deployed will be a quantum leap forward in infrastructure to enable the scaling and integration of global carbon markets. The key pillars that underpin the design, development and operation of the ICE registry platform are: agile, customer driven, scalable, state-of-the-art market infrastructure, secure, user-friendly, and 24-hour support.
What are the benefits of the ICE GreenTraceTM registry technology platform?
ICE GreenTraceTM, is designed to drive confidence in carbon credit markets by being agile, customer driven, user friendly and scalable, with 24-hour support. ICE GreenTraceTM will immediately offer an intuitive, simple, and responsive User Interface that prioritizes clarity and ease of use, user satisfaction and productivity. When fully deployed, the state-of-the-art market infrastructure will require minimal effort to navigate and accomplish tasks.
What technology development and operation credentials does ICE have?
In 2000, ICE was founded on the core principle of analogue to digital transformations with the idea of transforming energy markets by creating a network that removed barriers and provided greater transparency, efficiency and access. By staying close to its customers, ICE has brought efficiency to its customers’ workflows. Today, it is a Fortune 500 company, providing customers with an array of financial technology solutions and data services that span a diverse set of asset classes.
Customers rely on ICE’s market infrastructure and information in their daily operations for trading, investing, hedging and compliance. On an average day, over 8 million derivatives contracts trade on ICE, with a total annual traded volume of approximately 2 billion contracts. ICE owns and operates the world’s largest stock exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, which handles a peak of more than 750 billion messages in a single day, operating critical markets during particularly volatile and active trading times. In the time it takes you to blink your eye, the NYSE can process over 10,000 messages in a single stock.
ICE’s fixed income, data services and execution capabilities provide analytics and platforms that help customers streamline processes, and at ICE Mortgage Technology, we’re transforming U.S. housing finance workflows.
ICE owns and operates six clearing houses in North America, Europe and Asia, including ICE Clear Europe, the largest clearer of energy and environmental derivatives in the world. ICE holds billions of dollars of collateral on behalf of its clients, reflecting how its risk management services play an essential role in the financial system by increasing financial stability and reducing systemic risk.
ICE has been a leader in environmental markets for over two decades. Almost 95% of all globally traded environmental futures and options trade on ICE’s exchanges. These include ICE’s carbon allowance markets covering the most liquid cap-and-trade market in the world, the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), the U.K. ETS and three State programs in North America; the Western Climate Initiative, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Washington State Cap and Invest program. ICE is the auctioneer for the U.K. Government’s carbon allowances raising over $28 billion. ICE hosts carbon credit futures markets for the Alberta TIER crediting programs and the world’s first exchange traded CORSIA Phase 1 Eligible Emissions Units futures contract, which includes ART as an Eligible Registry.
In addition, ICE is the leading operator of markets in Energy Attribute Certificates, such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) issued under several State Renewable Portfolio Standards and Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) issued under the Federal Renewable Fuels Standard in the U.S. In 2025, a record 20.94 million environmental contracts traded on ICE, equivalent to over $1 trillion in notional value for the fifth consecutive year with record physical delivery of carbon allowances totaling $117 billion. 2025 also saw the first delivery of ICE CORSIA (CP1) futures as market participants utilize the airline emissions reduction program.
For more information about ICE please visit its website at https://www.ice.com and https://www.ice.com/energy/environmental.
What is the timeline for migration to the ICE GreenTraceTM registry platform?
The transition to the ICE registry platform is expected to be completed in June 2026. The process to get there includes the following steps
- Participant & User Onboarding: January-March 2026
- KYC of ERT as a vendor and ICE as a technology provider (as may be required by companies): February-April 2026
- Transition Rehearsal: April 2026
- Terms of Use Acceptance: February-May 2026
- Training Sessions: May 2026
- Transition to ICE Registry Platform: June 2026
Specific deadlines will be sent to account holders in advance.
What are my opportunities to review the new platform and offer input?
We will offer training sessions to registry users in May 2026. At that time, we will walk users through registry functionality and answer questions.
Participants will also be able to access the new registry platform in a non-production environment. This allows them to build confidence in using the new registry platform, provide feedback, identify possible defects, and confirm end-to-end process integrity. Email ACR@winrock.org to express interest in accessing the non-production environment and we will revert when it becomes available.
Users can register for the ICE Service Community (https://service.ice.com) to provide feedback, create and track support tickets and find helpful resources.
Will the new platform have an API?
ICE GreenTrace™ is being developed in phases. In the first phase, users will be able to download public registry data in a machine-readable public datasets through an API. In future phases, additional API integrations will be made available, including an API which supports account and carbon credit management.
What costs are associated with registering for ICE GreenTrace™?
For ACR and ART account holders, there are no additional costs associated with registering for ICE GreenTrace™.
Will ART’s fees change?
There will be new fees; for example, those associated with registry users who wish to access the API when that becomes available. Fee updates will be posted with 45 days advance notice per the ART Terms of Use Agreement.
How can I stay informed about the transition to the ICE registry technology platform?
ART will be sending regular updates to all Account Holders as the project develops. We also encourage you to subscribe to the ICE GreenTraceTM newsletter here.