Mark Vender
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has announced that it will receive suggestions for new methods of emissions reduction under the Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU) scheme.
The announcement is part of a range of measures that will aim to strengthen and restore public confidence in the ACCU scheme, which in recent years has come in for heavy criticism. According to independent researchers and academics, there is significant evidence that up to 75 per cent of ACCUs are not resulting in real emissions reductions or are not “additional”.
Despite these concerns, a review of ACCUs in 2022 determined that the scheme was “essentially sound”. The review panel did, however, present recommendations, one being to improve the process for developing new methods that would be accepted under the scheme. Rather than relying on the government to prioritise and develop new methods, the review recommended that anyone should be able to propose new ideas for methods, or changes to existing methods.
In line with this recommendation, the government is putting in place a new interim “proponent-led” method development process, and is now accepting ideas and expressions of interest for new methods under the ACCU scheme.
More information on submitting a proposal is available at the DCCEEW website. There will also be two information sessions to explain the new process: on May 30, from 12–1.30pm (AEST), and on June 4, from 1.30–3pm (AEST).
For questions relating to the process, email [email protected]
Leave a Reply