# What is the difference between a REC and a carbon credit?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/rec-vs-carbon-credit-difference

A REC is the claim to one megawatt-hour of renewable electricity, used for a market-based Scope 2 figure. A carbon credit represents one tonne of CO2e reduced or removed somewhere else. RECs change how you report electricity; carbon credits never reduce your inventory and are reported separately.

## REC

- Unit: 1 MWh.
- Use: market-based Scope 2.
- In India: issued under the REC mechanism.

## Carbon credit

- Unit: 1 t CO2e.
- Use: claims beyond your inventory, after retirement.
- Issued by registries for verified projects.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible keeps each figure behind a claim traceable to the invoices and bills it came from, so a reader can check the number rather than take the wording on trust.

- [How the India REC mechanism works](https://senseible.earth/answers/how-does-the-india-rec-mechanism-work)
- [Green tariff or RECs](https://senseible.earth/answers/green-tariff-vs-recs-cheaper-scope-2)
- [Can a report subtract offsets?](https://senseible.earth/answers/can-a-ghg-report-subtract-carbon-offsets)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance](https://ghgprotocol.org/scope-2-guidance), [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard), [ICVCM Core Carbon Principles](https://icvcm.org)

Last reviewed 2026-10-23.