Flaws in Australia’s carbon credits schemes undermine transparency, new report finds

One issue cited in the report was whether the projects claiming the carbon cuts would have gone ahead without the granting of credits, such as limiting land-clearing for cattle grazing. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP

Criticisms raised by a whistleblower who called Australia’s carbon credits “largely a sham” have been supported in a new report commissioned by the Albanese government.

The study by the Australian Academy of Science, requested by the independent Chubb review, examined strengths and limitations of four methods used to generate Australian carbon credit units by reducing or avoiding emissions.