Environment groups are calling on New South Wales Labor not to implement the federal (ACCU) scheme as part of the .
Wilderness Australia director Virginia Young told 鶹ý that carbon offset schemes have been used to delay real action on climate and that “We need to actually reduce emissions, not offset them.”
Young said the scheme would lead to 60–80% of Australia’s emission reduction targets being delivered through offsets, rather than real reductions in greenhouse gases.
She said governments are “overreliant” on offsets to meet their emissions reduction targets and that Australia is one of the worst.
Research for Climate Analytics found that Australia is on par with Kazakhstan as one of those on offsets, such as tree planting and forest regeneration. “Offsets should be part of a short-term transition plan while moving away from fossil fuels and decarbonising,” Young said.
Europe and China have tight restrictions on land sector and forest offsets, Young said, but they are the predominant form of offsets in Australia.
“Sequestration of carbon is inherently less permanent than emissions reduction by phasing out fossil fuels. Bio-carbon, carbon in land, forests and ecosystems, is fundamentally different to fossil carbon … Ecosystems are complex cycles, they cycle carbon in and out of the atmosphere and store carbon as they grow.
“It can take centuries for big carbon stocks to accumulate, unlogged old growth forests can be huge carbon stocks.” Young said it was vital that this carbon is kept in the forest and not released into the atmosphere.
According to the Climate Council, the 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires released emissions equivalent to Australia’s entire emissions for 2018. “It takes about 10 years to recover that carbon stock, but only without any further disruption,” Young said.
Young said the ACCU scheme could help “prop up” destructive native forest logging in to the future when it should be ended.
“Native forest logging is ending,” Yong said, but not fast enough for threatened species such as koalas, greater gliders and powerful owls and for our emissions targets.
“Australia has committed to reversing the extinction crisis by 2030, but governments have taken no action to protect them — that’s untenable.”
She said the recent NSW State of the Environment Report reported that logging had declined by 61% since 2017, with woodchip shipments to China effectively ending and energy companies moving away from hardwood power poles.
“This [logging] industry is in terminal decline, but is heavily subsidised by the public purse. To survive, it will need a lifeline, and ACCU revenue could provide that.
“It is better for the climate if native forest logging ends, instead of being used for carbon credits.”
Young pointed to the success of the in reducing that state’s net greenhouse gas emissions between 2012 and 2018, by protecting forests from logging.
“Keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere is the main game, not waiting until you can pull something back down,” Young said.
“The idea of ‘net zero’ is partly responsible for this, as it is being applied in a way it was never meant to be. It was never meant to be used on a country, regional or individual business level.”
Young said the main beneficiaries of the ACCU scheme are likely to be the biggest carbon emission emitters, such as coal and gas companies, and they will likely use this to extend fossil fuel mining by claiming they are offsetting their emissions.
Carbon offset schemes have often been found to be . For example, selling credits for not chopping down trees that were never going to be chopped down, or planting trees that were going to be planted.
She said the integrity of the offset projects is a “technical and administrative nightmare” that is open to manipulation.
In addition, calculations do not include the increasing threats from climate change-driven severe droughts, fires and floods on the offset projects.
“The more we disturb natural ecosystems, the greater the risk of increasing emissions and breaching ecosystem tipping points.”
Young said governments should strive "for real zero, not net zero emissions”. She said the speed of decarbonisation is dependent on the pace of change towards renewables, but it also requires ending the extraction of fossil fuels.
“We also need more investment in energy infrastructure, so local councils, small businesses and other organisations can easily decarbonise. Everywhere, we need to be thinking, ‘What can we actually do to reduce our real emissions?’.”
[The public consultation on NSW’s adoption of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit scheme ends on July 11. has a submission guide and the has a template.]