Event: New South Wales

A long-promised New South Wales great koala national park is set to go ahead after the Albanese government greenlit the state to receive hundreds of millions of dollars for protecting native forests previously earmarked for logging.The assistant climate change minister, Josh Wilson, said the government had approved a regulatory change that allowed state governments to earn carbon credits by storing carbon dioxide in native forests on public land.Each carbon credit is said to represent one kilogram of emissions that has been prevented or sucked from the atmosphere – most often in trees or the landscape – rather than released to contribute to global heating.Their use is contentious, partly because polluting companies are allowed to buy an unlimited number of credits – also known as offsets – to count as their own cuts while continuing to pollute. Scientists have warned limiting the climate crisis requires rapid direct cuts in emissions and that carbon offsets should be used sparingly.Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailThe NSW government, which proposed the new method to create carbon credits, had been waiting on federal approval of the new carbon credit before delivering an election commitment to add 176,000 hectares of national park near Coffs Harbour.The method could be used across the country, but the conservative governments in other states with native forest industries – Tasmania and Queensland – have rejected using carbon credits to reduce logging, arguing it would cost regional jobs.NSW Labor first promised a koala park while in opposition more than a decade ago. It confirmed its commitment in September, saying it would protect old-growth forests, at least 12,000 koalas and more than 100 other threatened species.Campaigners were concerned authorities may respond to the creation of the park by ramping up forestry elsewhere, but the final design of the carbon credit method…