Turnbull leaves open idea of carbon credits to meet emissions target

The Turnbull government has left open the prospect of using international carbon credits to help meet Australia’s emissions reduction targets at lowest cost, a practice Tony Abbott ruled out when he was prime minister.

A less emissions‑intensive electricity sector could
‘also support reductions elsewhere’, the report says.

While Abbott used to characterise the trade of international credits as “money that shouldn’t be going offshore into dodgy carbon farms in Equatorial Guinea and Kazakhstan” – a new discussion paper, released on Friday, notes that “high quality international units could contribute to lowering the costs of meeting [Australia’s] 2030 target”.

The discussion paper is being used by the federal government to open a conversation about its heavily criticised Direct Action climate policy. The government established a review of the policy last December.

Read The Guardian story - “Turnbull leaves open idea of carbon credits to meet emissions target.”