Carry-over credits and carbon offsets are hot topics this election – but what do they actually mean?

In this election, often dubbed the “climate election”, voters are refusing to settle for weak policies on climate change.

Organisations can use offsets as part of their emission reduction strategy.

But between the “will they/won’t they” question of whether the coalition will meet their climate targets and the costing of the ALP’s targets, there is a lot of misunderstanding, even among experts.

Unsurprisingly, even the best-informed voter is liable to struggle, particularly when generic terms like “carbon credits” are used to describe completely different things.

Read the story from The Conversation by a Senior Industry Fellow from RMIT University, Alan Pears, and a Fellow at the Melbourne Law School from the Australian-German Climate and Energy College at the University of Melbourne, Tim Baxter - “Carry-over credits and carbon offsets are hot topics this election – but what do they actually mean?”

Australian mining giants 'may be breaking law' by ignoring climate change risks

More than a dozen of Australia’s largest mining and infrastructure companies may be in breach of their legal duties by refusing to consider the financial risks posed by climate change, an investor action group says.

 The Australian Securities and Investments Commission audited
 60 mining and infrastructure companies and found only
 10 identified climate as a material risk.

In September, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission published a report that said “the law requires” relevant companies to “include a discussion of climate risk” in their annual report.

Market Forces, a group that advocates for environmentally sustainable investment, assisted shareholders at company annual general meetings. Almost all of those companies ignored or dismissed climate change as a financial risk to their business.

“Directors are legally required to consider climate risk. Failure to do so may constitute a breach of their legal duties,” Market Forces campaigner Rachel Deans said.

Read the story from The Guardian by Ben Smee - “Australian mining giants 'may be breaking law' by ignoring climate change risks.”