{
  "id": 8266069,
  "title": "Australia’s big polluters rely on carbon offsets for climate credibility. But the system looks like a house of cards | Adam Morton",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/australias-big-polluters-rely-on-carbon-offsets-for-climate",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-18T15:00:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Guardian Australia",
    "slug": "the-guardian-australia",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2026/sep/19/australias-big-polluters-rely-on-carbon-offsets-for-climate-credibility-but-the-system-looks-like-a-house-of-cards"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Australia's major emitters depend on carbon offsets to appear climate-conscious, yet the system appears fragile, according to a recent analysis by Adam Morton. The concept of credits is likened to an exact trade for emissions, but the nature of credits generated from natural carbon storage is fundamentally different from burning fossil fuels from the distant past. The tension within the Greens that resulted in senators switching party allegiance last week over koala preservation in a national park might have brought the larger issue into the limelight – the heavy reliance of Australia's polluting sectors on carbon offsets.\n\nThis reliance is increasingly looking like a precarious house of cards. Credits can be an overwhelming topic, but they are indeed significant. In Australia, these offsets are referred to as Australian Carbon Credit Units. Each unit is purported to represent a tonne of greenhouse gas that would otherwise have been present in the atmosphere. Most of these credits are produced from government-approved projects aimed at regenerating forests or capturing and burning methane released from landfills.",
  "summary": "Credits are treated as a like-for-like swap for emissions, but carbon stored in nature is entirely different to burning millennia-old fossil fuels The fight within the Greens that led senators to cross the floor last week over koala protection in a national park may have finally put a spotlight on a bigger issue – one at the heart of much of Australia’s promise to act on the climate crisis. It’s…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}