Carbon offsetting is often met with scepticism, but a new report suggests that if correctly designed it can be an important part of the net zero transition.
The safeguard mechanism is supposed to stop Australia’s largest polluters from emitting over a certain threshold. It’s been widely criticised for lacking teeth, and is finally under review.
Our new analysis suggests the vast majority of carbon credits granted for regrowing native forests either has not occurred, or would have occurred anyway.
Australia needs an honest reckoning with the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long hold over Australian politics. Without that, we cannot shift to a principled stand against ceaseless expansion.
New Zealand has announced a more ambitious pledge to cut emissions, but the commitment relies on buying credits from offshore. There is no system for doing this yet, or for ensuring genuine cuts.
Prominent academics, including a former IPCC chair, round on governments worldwide for using the concept of net zero emissions to ‘greenwash’ their lack of commitment to solving global warming.
Under the current rules, the federal government takes the most responsibility for buying carbon credits. A blockchain-driven market would be faster, smarter, and much more open.