Time for reform: The only other country with unfettered access to offsets is Kazakhstan
New research reveals that carbon offsets are inadequate abatement for climate emissions from the fossil fuel industry because climate emissions stay in the atmosphere for far longer than the life of land-based carbon offsets.
Australia remains on par with climate laggards when it comes to using unlimited offsets to meet its emissions reduction target – a fact not addressed in Labor’s proposal to strengthen a signature climate policy, the Safeguard Mechanism.
The analysis, by Climate Analytics, outlines the fundamental scientific shortcomings of land sector offsets, such as tree planting and forest regeneration, which account for more than half the total offsets generated to date.
For each tonne of carbon released into the atmosphere, around 40% remains after 100 years, 20-25% remains after 1,000 years, and up to 20% after 10,000 years, centuries after a land-sector offset stops absorbing carbon.
The research found:
The majority of land sector offsets fail to deliver genuine or additional emission reductions.
The projects underpinning land sector offsets are, by design, not permanent, meaning it’s likely that much of the carbon sequestered will eventually be lost back to the atmosphere, and many would have happened without the money provided by the sale of offsets while many more do not represent emissions reductions at all.
Using Australia’s land sector to offset fossil fuel emissions is fundamentally risky.
As the government’s Safeguard Mechanism reform process continues, Solutions for Climate Australia is advocating for the government to limit access to offsets by Safeguard Mechanism facilities, as well as restricting access to Australian Carbon Credit Units (the main form of offsets in Australia) for new fossil fuel facilities.
The research was commissioned by Solutions for Climate Australia in partnership with the Australian Conservation Foundation, and undertaken by global climate science experts, Climate Analytics.