Emissions from Australian coalmines increased last financial year, according to government data, despite the Albanese government's promise of significant pollution cuts. About 80% of coalmines released more than their government-imposed limits, with total emissions rising by approximately 0.5% to 31.78 million tonnes, up from 31.63 million tonnes. The rise would have been greater had the Grosvenor mine not been closed due to a fire.
The coalmines are covered by the safeguard mechanism, a policy designed to drive cleaner practices and emissions cuts at about 200 of Australia's major industrial sites. Under the overhauled scheme, most facilities are required to reduce emissions intensity by 4.9% each year. However, nearly two-thirds of mines increased their emissions compared with the previous year, and most met their obligations by purchasing carbon offsets rather than cutting pollution at source.
Scientists and experts have warned that relying on offsets is not a genuine climate solution. Georgina Woods from campaign group Lock the Gate described the reliance on offsets as “a major structural flaw” in the safeguard mechanism, saying it allows fossil fuel companies to “lean heavily on land-sector offsets instead of investing in reducing pollution at the source.” Kate Dooley, a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne, added that offset use is “delaying real decarbonisation” and that Australia’s climate targets will only be met by reducing emissions at source and scaling up renewable energy.
Climate change minister Chris Bowen pointed to official data showing that total onsite emissions under the scheme fell by 3.2 million tonnes, or 2.3%, without accounting for offsets. However, the number of industrial facilities covered by the scheme fell by 11 last year, complicating the comparison.
The use of offsets, particularly those based on storing carbon in forests and other nature, is intended for “negative emissions” in the long term. But campaigners and researchers argue that offsetting industrial pollution while expanding fossil fuel use undermines the purpose of the policy and leaves Australians exposed to climate-related disasters and rising costs.
