Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen and the Greens have agreed on amendments to the Safeguard Mechanism including a requirement for net zero scope 1 emissions for new gas projects, separate methane and nitrous oxide reporting, and mandatory explanations for high offset use.
The Australian Sustainable Finance Institute's has released its final sustainable taxonomy recommendations and says there was overwhelming support from stakeholders for a framework which guards against greenwashing and supports capital flow into sustainable economic activities.
The European Commission plans to adopt a new directive requiring companies operating within the bloc to have their environmental claims verified independently, and clearly disclose their use of offsets to achieve emissions commitments.
Having a hard cap on the amount of ACCUs that a company can use under the Safeguard Mechanism would be impractical and would prevent businesses from making the decarbonisation changes they will have to make, Carbon Market Institute chair and energy market expert, Dr Kerry Schott told the National Press Club today.
The threshold for inclusion in the Safeguard Mechanism should be reduced from 100,000 tonnes of carbon to just 25,000 tonnes according to the Productivity Commission.