Signal Climate policy. Is the era of unlimited emissions offsets ending?

Summary

The Australian government quietly announced the abolition of Climate Active, its official carbon neutral certification programme, through a consultation paper. The Safeguard Mechanism, which covers major emitting facilities, currently allows unlimited use of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) for compliance, unlike comparable schemes overseas — the EU ETS and UK scheme prohibit offsets entirely, while California caps offset use at 6% of obligations. A new crediting method, Improved Native Forest Management, has been approved under the ACCU scheme, and a record 5.5 million tonnes of ACCU abatement was claimed in the first quarter of 2026. Energy retailer Energy Australia admitted in a legal settlement that offsets "do not prevent or undo the harms caused by burning fossil fuels for a customer's energy use." The Climate Council has called for Climate Active to be "put in the bin."