Graham Readfearn
Guardian Australia
Thu, 19 January 2023
Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters
Some of Australia’s best known companies – including Qantas, Origin and Zoos Victoria – are being urged to check the effectiveness of overseas rainforest carbon credits used to underpin carbon neutral claims made through a federal government program.
This week the Guardian revealed more than 90% of the rainforest credits issued through a leading global verification organisation, Verra, were likely worthless and could make global heating worse.
The investigation raises questions about claims of carbon neutrality made through the federal government’s Climate Active program, which allows companies to use Verra credits to claim carbon neutrality.
It has also prompted calls for businesses in Australia to carry out their own due diligence on Verra rainforest carbon credits they have bought.
Polly Hemming, a climate researcher at the Australia Institute, said the investigation was another to cast doubt on the effectiveness of carbon credits.
“Whether you think offsetting is the right thing to do or not, most companies are buying these credits in good faith and are trying to do the right thing,” she said.
“There’s a significant number of Australian businesses that have bought these Verra forest credits and used them to underpin a claim of carbon neutrality through the Australian government’s Climate Active program.”
The Guardian’s investigation raises further questions about the use of carbon credits in Australia, with outstanding questions that some Australia-based carbon offsets had not delivered the emissions reductions that had been claimed.
The Guardian’s nine-month investigation analysed studies of the Verra rainforest schemes, as well as independent analysis and interviews with scientists, industry insiders and Indigenous communities.
The emissions reductions certified at most projects to protect rainforests from clearing were vastly inflated, the investigation claimed.
Verra strongly disputes the studies’ conclusions, has strenuously defended the projects and challenged the methods used to undermine their credibility, saying the methods the scientists used cannot capture the true impact on the ground, which explains the difference between the credits it approves and the emission reductions estimated by scientists.
Many Australian companies have turned to the federal government’s Climate Active program to gain carbon neutral certification, and often buy and then retire different carbon credits – some overseas and some domestic – which they disclose to Climate Active.
Verra rainforest credits are among those used by Qantas that allow customers to offset emissions from flights, and by Origin when customers want to offset emissions from electricity and LPG use.
Zoos Victoria and cosmetics brand Aesop also bought and retired Verra rainforest carbon credits to underpin applications for carbon neutral status through Climate Active.
John Connor, the chief executive of the Carbon Market Institute, which represents companies and organisations working in or taking part in the carbon offset industry, said: “I’m noting that Verra has challenged these findings, but companies should be looking at these concerns [raised in the investigation] as they should with any aspects of their investment portfolio.
“They should make their own investigations for their own due diligence.”
A review of carbon credits by former chief scientist Ian Chubb in late 2022 recommended removing a requirement, set to come into force later this year, that carbon neutral claims made through Climate Active should include at least 20% of Australian credits. The government accepted the recommendation.
Hemming claimed Climate Active did not carry out any of its own due diligence on credits to check they actually delivered real cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Related: Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows
“Companies can’t ultimately know what they’re getting unless they visit the projects themselves,” she said.
“The public should look with scepticism at any net zero or carbon neutral claims because we’re just seeing more and more that there is no real assurance that these products are actually carbon neutral.”
The Guardian has sent questions to several companies that have bought Verra rainforest credits and declared them through Climate Active.
A statement from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, which oversees the Climate Active program, said 320,000 tonnes of offsets from avoided deforestation had been used since 2019, which was 1.95% of all offsets used in that period.
The statement said carbon credits eligible to be used under the program had been assessed against integrity principles “at the scheme level” and that a Climate Change Authority (CCA) review of international offsets last year recommended no changes to which offset schemes should be included.
“The CCA recommended a further review of the use of international offsets in Australia, including the types eligible for use, by 2025. The Australian government is currently considering the recommendations of the CCA Review.”
Thu, 19 January 2023
Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters
Some of Australia’s best known companies – including Qantas, Origin and Zoos Victoria – are being urged to check the effectiveness of overseas rainforest carbon credits used to underpin carbon neutral claims made through a federal government program.
This week the Guardian revealed more than 90% of the rainforest credits issued through a leading global verification organisation, Verra, were likely worthless and could make global heating worse.
The investigation raises questions about claims of carbon neutrality made through the federal government’s Climate Active program, which allows companies to use Verra credits to claim carbon neutrality.
It has also prompted calls for businesses in Australia to carry out their own due diligence on Verra rainforest carbon credits they have bought.
Polly Hemming, a climate researcher at the Australia Institute, said the investigation was another to cast doubt on the effectiveness of carbon credits.
“Whether you think offsetting is the right thing to do or not, most companies are buying these credits in good faith and are trying to do the right thing,” she said.
“There’s a significant number of Australian businesses that have bought these Verra forest credits and used them to underpin a claim of carbon neutrality through the Australian government’s Climate Active program.”
The Guardian’s investigation raises further questions about the use of carbon credits in Australia, with outstanding questions that some Australia-based carbon offsets had not delivered the emissions reductions that had been claimed.
The Guardian’s nine-month investigation analysed studies of the Verra rainforest schemes, as well as independent analysis and interviews with scientists, industry insiders and Indigenous communities.
The emissions reductions certified at most projects to protect rainforests from clearing were vastly inflated, the investigation claimed.
Verra strongly disputes the studies’ conclusions, has strenuously defended the projects and challenged the methods used to undermine their credibility, saying the methods the scientists used cannot capture the true impact on the ground, which explains the difference between the credits it approves and the emission reductions estimated by scientists.
Many Australian companies have turned to the federal government’s Climate Active program to gain carbon neutral certification, and often buy and then retire different carbon credits – some overseas and some domestic – which they disclose to Climate Active.
Verra rainforest credits are among those used by Qantas that allow customers to offset emissions from flights, and by Origin when customers want to offset emissions from electricity and LPG use.
Zoos Victoria and cosmetics brand Aesop also bought and retired Verra rainforest carbon credits to underpin applications for carbon neutral status through Climate Active.
John Connor, the chief executive of the Carbon Market Institute, which represents companies and organisations working in or taking part in the carbon offset industry, said: “I’m noting that Verra has challenged these findings, but companies should be looking at these concerns [raised in the investigation] as they should with any aspects of their investment portfolio.
“They should make their own investigations for their own due diligence.”
A review of carbon credits by former chief scientist Ian Chubb in late 2022 recommended removing a requirement, set to come into force later this year, that carbon neutral claims made through Climate Active should include at least 20% of Australian credits. The government accepted the recommendation.
Hemming claimed Climate Active did not carry out any of its own due diligence on credits to check they actually delivered real cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Related: Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows
“Companies can’t ultimately know what they’re getting unless they visit the projects themselves,” she said.
“The public should look with scepticism at any net zero or carbon neutral claims because we’re just seeing more and more that there is no real assurance that these products are actually carbon neutral.”
The Guardian has sent questions to several companies that have bought Verra rainforest credits and declared them through Climate Active.
A statement from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, which oversees the Climate Active program, said 320,000 tonnes of offsets from avoided deforestation had been used since 2019, which was 1.95% of all offsets used in that period.
The statement said carbon credits eligible to be used under the program had been assessed against integrity principles “at the scheme level” and that a Climate Change Authority (CCA) review of international offsets last year recommended no changes to which offset schemes should be included.
“The CCA recommended a further review of the use of international offsets in Australia, including the types eligible for use, by 2025. The Australian government is currently considering the recommendations of the CCA Review.”
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