Less than a week out from The Australia Institute's 2025 Climate Integrity Summit, it's been revealed that organisations like Telstra, Australia Post, PWC and the NRMA – and more than a hundred others – have walked away from the Federal Government's Climate Active scheme.
Australians are fed up with polluters buying carbon credits of questionable quality rather than making real investments in real reductions in the amount of fossil fuels they are burning.
The public knows the difference between greenwashing and real action on climate change. Now, corporate Australia is getting the message. Many companies are choosing not to be associated with programs which lack integrity.
"Even PwC doesn't respect the integrity of the accounting standards behind the Commonwealth Government's own carbon offsetting scheme. When PwC is telling you to pull your socks up, you know you have an integrity problem," said Richard Denniss, Executive Director of The Australia Institute.
"A growing number of Australians are sick of the greenwashing and accounting tricks, and simply want their governments to drive a real reduction in fossil fuel use. That's why climate scientists and business people like Andrew Forrest are calling for real zero targets to replace the vague net zero targets which rely on carbon offsetting.
"The penny has dropped for some of Australia's biggest companies. It's time to stop relying on accounting tricks like carbon credits.
"Unlike Australia's carbon offset scheme, climate change is real. We are already living with the chaos. Just look at the flood crisis in north Queensland or the catastrophic wild fires in California.
"Big corporations are voting with their feet. They join a growing chorus of Australians from across the political spectrum pointing out that offsets just don't work."
