<
https://theconversation.com/as-australias-carbon-offset-industry-grapples-with-integrity-concerns-how-can-companies-genuinely-tackle-climate-change-257124>
"Australia’s largest carbon market player, GreenCollar, has quit the federal
government’s voluntary carbon neutral program, Climate Active. More than 100
companies have left the program in the past two years.
Climate Active provides certification to businesses and other organisations to
verify that they are carbon neutral. Certification is supposed to mean an
organisation has neutralised the impacts its greenhouse gas emissions have on
global warming by buying carbon offsets, which represent emission reductions
achieved elsewhere.
GreenCollar is among many Australian organisations that develop
emissions-reduction projects, such as storing carbon in vegetation. Upon
exiting the Climate Active scheme, GreenCollar co-founder James Schultz told
The Australian that Climate Active had become too risky, due to criticism
from environmentalists the carbon abatement associated with offsets is often
not genuine.
Electricity retailer EnergyAustralia has also acknowledged “legitimate public
concern” about carbon offsets and programs such as Climate Active that rely on
them.
Effective carbon offset projects do exist in Australia. However, research by my
colleagues and I, and many other experts, has found integrity issues are
widespread in carbon offset schemes – and low integrity projects are all too
common, including in Australia.
So how has this situation arisen, and what should companies do to genuinely
reduce their climate impact?"
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
