International offset accounting tricks won’t stop climate crisis, says Greens Leader

2022-08-11

On the Climate Change Authority Report into the international offsets market released today, attributable to Greens leader Adam Bandt MP:

“The government must reject international offset accounting tricks.

“This Morrison-era report, commissioned by Angus Taylor to justify his government's Paris accounting tricks, should be binned.

“We need to cut emissions here in Australia so that we get the benefits of transitioning to a zero economy. These international offsets just delay action and could also undercut our farmers, who could earn income from helping draw down pollution locally.

“The EU no longer allows international offsets and Australia should ban them too.

“If climate action is left to accounting tricks, pollution will go up and we won’t stop the climate crisis.

“Some of these supposed “carbon credits” are nothing but hot air: they don’t represent real cuts to emissions, they get traded hundreds of times, and they give corporations a free pass to keep pumping pollution into the atmosphere.

“The climate crisis and the threat of floods and fires is urgent. Any carbon reduction scheme must see emissions actually come down and carbon drawdown activities increased.

“If we want to turn the tide on climate breakdown we need to see negative emissions, with more carbon drawdown through reforestation than pollution output. The time for ambition is now and we can’t waste time on schemes that achieve net nothing.”

On Tamboran Resources’ submission to the Climate Change Bill enquiry, attributable to Greens leader Adam Bandt MP:

"The gas industry would rather the government sign off on widespread crop failures, water insecurity, extreme heat and flash flooding rather than take reasonable steps to avert the worsening of the climate crisis.

"No amount of spin from the gas grifters changes the fact that the Beetaloo Basin project will lift Australia's pollution by up to 13%.

“Fracking the Beetaloo Basin is impossible if the government wants to meet even its weak 43% target.

"There’s no room for new coal and gas in our future."