Submission on the Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026
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On 10 September 2026, the Senate referred the Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026 (the Bill) to the Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications.
Among other things, the Bill proposes amendments to the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (CFI Act) to improve integrity in the regulation of carbon offsets in Australia. The CFI Act sets out the rules established for the Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme (ACCU Scheme), which forms a significant part of the Federal Government’s policy response to climate change and meeting its climate change obligations. However, integrity issues with the ACCU Scheme have been substantially documented. A robust regulatory framework is therefore of paramount importance to address these shortfalls and ensure the ACCU Scheme operates with high integrity.
To this end, overall EDO supports the amendments proposed in the Bill to the CFI Act. However, more action is needed to improve integrity in carbon offsets to ensure they are capable of delivering real abatement and effectively compensating for greenhouse gas emissions to reduce climate change risks faced across Australia and globally
