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.
New research finds nature restoration only marginally lowers global warming. This pours cold water on the idea of using carbon offsets to solve the climate crisis.
When trees burn, all the carbon they have stored goes back into the atmosphere.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
More carbon dioxide in the air doesn’t necessarily mean more growth for trees, and the increasing risk of wildfires and drought has major consequences, as an interactive map shows.
After 25 years of carbon market experiments, it’s clear climate policy should not rely on offsets.
Carbon markets can protect forests but increasing the economic value of these lands can also create incentives for land-grabbing.
(Boudewijn Huysmans/Unsplash)
Many see carbon markets as key to channelling billions of dollars into reducing carbon emissions and protecting forests, but they also put the well-being of communities at risk.
Yes, trees and soils can absorb and store carbon, but the carbon doesn’t stay stored forever. That’s one of the problems with how net-zero plans for the climate are being designed.
A growing number of countries and companies have pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. But there’s a catch – they still plan to keep emitting greenhouse gases.
Wildfires approach the village of Pefki on the Greek island of Evia, August 2021.
Kostas Tsironis/EPA-EFE
The world is acting on climate change – just not effectively.
Soybeans sprout on an Illinois farm through corn stubble left on an unplowed field from the previous season – an example of no-till farming.
Paige Buck, USDA/Flickr
Policymakers want to pay farmers for storing carbon in soil, but there are no uniform rules yet for measuring, reporting or verifying the results. Four scholars offer some ground rules.
If a forest goes up in smoke, what about the offset?
Christian Roberts-Olsen / shutterstock