Subject. This article examines the important for the Russian Federation issues of carbon-dioxide absorption certificate creation, certification, and trading arising from the current climate agenda defined by the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Objectives. The article aims to investigate methodological and organizational issues that hinder the exchange carbon unit trading, especially when implementing forest environmental projects aimed to enhance the absorbing capacity of Russian forests. The article also aims to develop original proposals to classify the carbon tax in the context of the implementation of carbon regulation in the Russian Federation. Methods. For the study, we used analysis, comparison, systematization, and generalization of relevant scientific literature. Results. The article classifies the existing approaches to the assessment of carbon units for their use in exchange emission trading, and it offers recommendations for making appropriate forest legislation amendments. Conclusions and Relevance. The implementation of plans for adaptation to climate change will require the development of a range of activities, including exchange trading of carbon units. The results of the study are aimed at implementing forest environmental projects with minimal damage to the Russian industry, which falls under external carbon regulation, and will improve the economic security of the State in the context of the transition to de-carbonization of the economy. The proposed approaches can be used in summarizing the results of an experiment to establish special regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and absorption in the Sakhalin Oblast in terms of accounting for carbon units in exchange trading and developing industry-wide recommendations on this issue.