(Australia) Forest regeneration that earned multimillion-dollar carbon credits resulted in fewer tre
Source: The Guardian
Forest regeneration that earned multimillion-dollar carbon credits resulted in fewer trees, analysis finds
Claim by academics, including former integrity chair of Australia’s carbon credit scheme, raises further doubts about system
Adam Morton
@adamlmorton
Sun 6 Nov 2022 16.30 GMT
Last modified on Sun 6 Nov 2022 16.32 GMT
Projects meant to regenerate Australia’s outback forests to store carbon dioxide have been awarded millions of carbon credits – worth hundreds of millions of dollars – despite total tree and shrub cover in those areas having declined, a new analysis has found.
It is the latest claim that raises doubts about the integrity of Australia’s carbon credit system, which the federal government and polluting businesses rely on to meet targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The analysis by six academics, including the former carbon credit scheme integrity chair Prof Andrew Macintosh, has been presented to a review of the system commissioned by the climate change minister, Chris Bowen.
Carbon credits are issued for projects that use government-approved methods to store or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. One carbon credit is meant to represent one tonne of carbon dioxide. Credits can then be sold to the government or polluting businesses, which use them to offset their onsite emissions.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/07/forest-regeneration-that-earned-multimillion-dollar-carbon-credits-resulted-in-fewer-trees-analysis-finds
