Clean Energy Regulator
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Through Sustainable energy, Carbon offsets and credits and Conflict of interest
The CER is responsible for administering schemes to report on and manage greenhouse gas emissions, including monitoring and enforcing compliance. These include Australia's carbon offsets and credits schemes.
In the 2020s, the body faced allegations that its carbon offsets were of poor integrity, and that it had not addressed governance problems such as conflicts of interest.
Schemes
The Clean Energy Regulator administers schemes legislated by the Australian Government for measuring, managing, reducing or offsetting Australia's carbon emissions. These are:
- The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme and the safeguard mechanism (established under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007);
- The Emissions Reduction Fund (established under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011);
- The Renewable Energy Target (established under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000);
- The Australian National Registry of Emissions Units (established under the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011).
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Reporting
The Clean Energy Regulator’s Quarterly Carbon Market Reports provide a regular view of supply and demand across the carbon markets schemes it administers and explores key factors that influence market performance. The report also provides information on trends and opportunities that may inform market decisions.
The Clean Energy Regulator also administers the Corporate Emissions Reduction Transparency (CERT) report. The CERT report is a voluntary initiative that provides companies with a consistent framework for reporting their emissions reduction and renewable electricity commitments.
Integrity concerns
The Clean Energy Regulator has faced various allegations that its carbon offset scheme does not effectively reduce emissions.
In 2021, the Australia Institute found that offsets for avoided deforestation do not meet integrity standards. The report found that the total offsets for avoided land clearing were far greater than the amount of land which would have otherwise been cleared. For these offsets to represent real avoided emissions, the institute estimated that the land clearing rate would have needed to be 751% to 12,804% larger.
In 2022, further allegations were made by Andrew Macintosh, the former chair of the body overseeing the Emissions Reduction Fund. Macintosh provided analysis that 80% of the carbon offsets available under the CER's scheme were low-integrity offsets, which did not represent real reductions in overall emissions. These included the CER's three biggest offsetting methods - re-generation of land, avoided deforestation, and a landfill gas scheme. The CER defended the integrity of the scheme.
Ahead of the 2022 federal election, the Labor Party promised an independent review of the integrity of the scheme. After winning power, the Albanese government initiated the review, and named Ian Chubb as its leader. The review found that the scheme's methods were sound, and considered that transparency could be improved. However, the review did recommend the CER stop granting offsets for avoided deforestation, due to the difficulty of assessing intent to clear land. Macintosh wrote that the review had failed to produce evidence to back up its analysis, and had ignored the findings of a report it had commissioned from the Australian Academy of Science.
In 2024, an audit found that the CER had failed to manage conflicts of interest and investigate fraud, and had intimidated scientists seeking to provide submissions. One academic stated that the body had been "captured" by the Carbon Market Institute, an industry lobby group which includes fossil fuel companies.