Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has approved the further development of new ways for big polluters to buy carbon credits, which would enable them to keep polluting and, in fact, pollute more.
Last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese looked Pacific leaders in the eye and promised real action on climate change.
Today, the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology released the State of the Climate 2024 report, with alarming new data and dire predictions about global warming, changing ocean currents and extreme weather events.
The carbon credit scheme being advanced today by Minister Bowen will not reduce emissions.
Even if the system was perfect - and it is anything but - it would be break-even, at best.
It's been proven time and time again that a significant percentage of carbon offset programs lead to zero reduction in real emissions.
Carbon credits and offsets are all about achieving "net zero". Recently, the chairman of mining company Fortescue, Andrew Forrest, agreed it was time to make "real zero" our target.
Even if Minister Bowen approves more so-called "high integrity" methods for earning carbon credits, there will no reduction in emissions.
For example, one new method would provide credits for projects which reduce logging in native forests.
Australia doesn't need offsets to end native logging. If the federal government cared about real emissions reductions, it would simply end native forest logging, as the Victorian and Western Australian governments have already done.
The Australia Institute has led the fight for integrity in climate policy.
"The science says we need to reduce fossil fuel consumption and store more carbon in trees," said Richard Denniss, Executive Director of The Australia Institute.
"The "and" is the key word. The science says we don't get to choose if we'd like a bit more fossil fuels if we have a few more trees. The science says we need to stop logging and fossil fuel expansion.
"Australia is the world's third-largest fossil fuel exporter with big plans to open new gas and coal mines. We need to listen to the science and stop relying on accounting tricks like carbon credits."
