Buying offsets is not decarbonising

16 April 2026 - New data from the Clean Energy Regulator confirms Australia's Safeguard Mechanism delivered a 2.3 per cent reduction in covered emissions in 2024-25. Beyond Zero Emissions says the headline figure masks a critical structural issue ahead of this year's review.

The volume of Australian Carbon Credit Units surrendered by the 208 covered facilities jumped 42 per cent to 10.8 million tonnes in 2024-25, up from 7.6 million the previous year.

BZE CEO Heidi Lee said the data underscored the importance of the upcoming 2026-27 review focusing on the right facilities.

“Buying offsets is not decarbonising,” Ms Lee said. “The scheme is keeping facilities within their limits, but it is not driving the investment that industrial regions are waiting on. The review has to change that.”

"The permanent industrial facilities, aluminium smelters, alumina refineries, chemicals and cement, are the ones that need a stronger signal from the review. They have a future in a net zero economy, and they are the ones that regional communities like Gladstone are built around."

BZE's analysis of clean energy industrial hubs, which excludes fossil fuel facilities, found that industry in just four proposed hubs, Gladstone, Kwinana, the Hunter and Bell Bay, accounts for nearly a quarter of the Safeguard emissions that matter most for long-term industrial decarbonisation.

BZE's Powering Up Gladstone report, published in October 2025, found only 12 per cent of the renewable generation capacity needed to power a Gladstone clean industry precinct is currently operational or under construction.

Ms Lee said the 2024-25 data represented the last full dataset before the review consultation paper and should sharpen the government's focus.

"Our industrial regions have the workers, the infrastructure and the will to lead Australia's clean economy. The review needs to back them with a policy signal equal to that ambition."

Media Contact:

Rachel Barron, BZE

+61 435 368 603