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https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-controversial-offsets-to-meet-climate-change-targets-we-might-not-get-away-with-it-in-egypt-193460>
"It’s small wonder a major fossil fuel producer like Australia has relied so
heavily on carbon offsets. Plant new forests - or say you will avoid clearing
old ones - and you can keep approving new gas and coal developments. This year,
whistleblower Professor Andrew McIntosh claimed up to 80% of these offsets
weren’t real. They didn’t actually offset emissions.
In Australia, renewables are the only real source of emission reduction. The
rest of the economy is set to slowly increase emissions. But what matters is
actually reducing how many tonnes of heat-trapping greenhouse gases go up into
the sky and add to the 2.5 trillion tonnes of CO2 humans have already emitted -
of which more than a trillion tonnes remain in the atmosphere. Last year,
carbon dioxide and methane levels hit new highs.
As the world’s policymakers head to Egypt for next week’s crucial climate
talks, offsets will be in the spotlight next to climate finance, loss and
damage to vulnerable communities and 2030 emissions targets. Egyptian president
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has pitched the COP27 conference as the moment “where
words were translated to actions”.
For Australia, this is an opportunity to move away from relying on dubious
offsets and focus on the real action of actually cutting emissions."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
