Australia is on the cusp of entrenching a price on carbon as the Albanese government prepares to impose a mandatory cap on big industrial emitters, after the carbon credits used by polluters to offset emissions were found to be “essentially sound”.

A review for the government led by former chief scientist Ian Chubb rejected claims that the Australian carbon credit scheme was rife with dodgy Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) produced by landowners and used by business to offset emissions.