The Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) that has been much discussed and criticized in the last couple of years, was recently backed by an independent party. An Independent Review by Chubb examined the Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and has concluded that its carbon crediting framework is ‘sound’.
The Carbon Market Institute published the announcement on January 9th. The review also outlined improvements that can boost Australian investor and community confidence in the scheme.
It did not find abatement had been overstated and focused on steps to increase transparency to ensure emissions offsetting measures are accurate. Some of the recommended improvements include:
- an enhanced and more independent Carbon Abatement Integrity Committee (CAIC) with a full-time Chair to replace the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC) as guardian of scheme integrity;
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- Some legislative and administrative changes for the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) like separation of governance, ACCU purchasing and method development functions so the Regulator provides more project and scheme information;
- legislative changes to enhance transparency, data access and data sharing as well as support for a national platform for integration and sharing of environmental information.
Further recommendations are suggested to ensure the Australian carbon crediting framework is fit for purpose. The Australian government also responded to the recommendations in principle and committed to consult with stakeholders on an implementation plan.
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“Hopefully we can overcome the divisions of recent months and years and urgently move on to deliver a policy framework that is not only credible, sustainable and investable, but also capable of achieving at least 50 per cent emission reductions by 2030 and negative emissions by 2050 – Australia’s fair share of the 1.5OC challenge,” concluded CEO of the Carbon Market Institute John Connor.
