AUSTRALIA has been accused of trying to cheat its way out of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by pushing for ''dishonest'' forestry accounting loopholes at the latest round of UN climate talks.
Along with Russia and the European Union, Australia is facing claims it is pushing to change rules so they could include offsets from planting trees but not count emissions created by land clearing.
Developing countries and environmental groups at the two-week meeting in Bonn, Germany, said rich nations were attempting to give the impression that they were tackling climate change when in reality they would be undermining genuine cuts.
The dispute centres on what year, or series of years, are chosen as a baseline to measure emissions from the land and forestry.
The Climate Action Network, a coalition of more than 500 environment and development groups, said a proposed revision of the land use, land use change and forestry rules would falsely exaggerate emission reductions. ''It's a disgraceful scandal. It would be disastrous for the climate,'' said Sean Cadman, an Australian spokesman for the climate network.
''This is a massive loophole. All rich countries except Switzerland are now trying to avoid the consequences of increasing the harvesting of forestry.''
The deputy chief executive of the Climate Institute, Erwin Jackson, said Australia's credibility was ''teetering on the edge of an abyss'' after the government's decision to delay emissions trading and the Coalition's outright opposition to a scheme.
''Obstinacy against reasonable calls for Australia to take responsibility for pollution from forestry is counterproductive and the government risks being perceived as trying to cook the books,'' he said.
A spokeswoman for the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, said the government measured and reported emissions from forestry and the land in accordance with international rules and reported them clearly every year. ''Australia recognises that the world needs smarter treatment of human-caused emissions from the land sector,'' she said.
''We have been pursuing this internationally for a long time because an effective global agreement will need to include human-caused emissions from all sectors.''
The climate network claims that loopholes could account for nearly 400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, or nearly 5 per cent of the global total. Forest management is seen as key to the climate talks because it is the biggest source of carbon credits and potential mitigation.
- with Guardian News & Media