Australian independent Amplitude Energy will withdraw from the federal government-backed Climate Active certification program from 30 June 2026, the latest participant to exit as firms await clarity on proposed reforms.
The company is seeking Climate Active's carbon neutrality certification for the financial year ending 30 June 2025, after which it will report under Australia's new mandatory climate reporting rules that came into force this year, Amplitude said on 6 November.
Under the new framework companies must disclose the expected effects of climate-related risks and plans to manage these risks.
The company remains committed to avoid and minimise direct emissions and voluntarily surrender certified carbon credits to offset 100pc of its residual scope 1 and 2 emissions, Amplitude said. It had not responded to queries from Argus about the use of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) at the time of writing.
The firm reported total emissions of 124,478t CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in the financial year ending 30 June 2024. It surrendered 118,254 verified carbon units (VCUs) from the Verra registry and 6,224 ACCUs for that year. The ACCU share of 5pc in total surrenders was down from 6pc in 2022-23, 30pc in 2021-22 and 100pc in both 2020-21 and 2019-20 (see table).
Amplitude is yet to release its public disclosure statement for Climate Active for the 2024-25 period with the breakdown of surrendered carbon credits, but it recently mentioned in its sustainability report that total emissions fell to 103,656t CO2e.
The firm is targeting a 40pc reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from flaring by June 2030 from 2023 levels and achieved a 59pc reduction in 2025.
It does not have any facilities under the compliance market's safeguard mechanism as none of its plants emit more than 100,000 t/yr of scope 1 emissions.
The Australian government is considering the future of its Climate Active program and how it coexists with other climate legislations.
Some of the key decisions on the future of the program include whether to change the existing list of eligible international units or set a minimum percentage use of ACCUs. Apart from ACCUs and VCUs, organisations can also use certified emissions reductions (CERs), removal units (RMUs), and verified emissions reductions (VERs) from Gold Standard. ACCUs made up only around 6pc of all cancellations over the history of the program.
Several companies exited the scheme in recent months on the back of negative academic and media coverage and increasing climate litigation risks.
The number of certified brands under Climate Active is currently at 492, down from almost 590 at the end of 2024. Meanwhile, the number of brands that stopped using the certification increased to 296 from around 180 over the same period.
| Amplitude's carbon credit surrenders under Climate Active | unit | ||
| Financial year | ACCUs | VCUs | ACCU share % |
| FY 2023-24 | 6,224 | 118,254 | 5 |
| FY 2022-23 | 6,398 | 94,121 | 6 |
| FY 2021-22 | 7,684 | 17,930 | 30 |
| FY 2020-21 | 4,352 | 0 | 100 |
| FY 2019-20 | 10,488 | 0 | 100 |
| source: Climate Active | |||
