CARBON OPPORTUNITIES FOR LANDHOLDERS
Recently the Commonwealth Government’s Clean Energy Regulator purchased over 45 million tonnes of carbon abatement measures at the second Emissions Reduction Fund auction held on 4 and 5 November 2015. The Fund was established through a variety of legal regulation under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (Cth).
With the advent of the Commonwealth government’s Carbon Farming Initiative as part of its Direct Action policy, landholders can take advantage of significant financial incentives to negotiate carbon sales contracts for their properties.
Farmers and landowners who take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may be able to earn carbon credits from activities such as:
- reducing livestock emissions;
- increasing efficiency of fertiliser use;
- enhancing carbon in agricultural soil;
- storing carbon through revegetation and reforestation.
Carbon farming activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions are referred to as abatement activities. They reduce emissions in one of two ways: by storing carbon in soil or plants (sequestration projects) or reducing emissions of carbon and other harmful greenhouse gases (emission reduction or avoidance projects).
On 4 and 5 November the Clean Energy Regulator awarded 129 carbon abatement contracts to 77 contractors, ranging from one to ten years in length, for a total value of almost $557 million. This included a number of voluntary revegetation and reforestation projects on agricultural land in Queensland.
The Commonwealth has so far committed a total of $1.2 billion in round terms with more to come.
P&E Law acts for a variety of clients including landholders, developers, consultants and government on a wide range of carbon-related projects and transactions including carbon trading and carbon farming initiatives as well as biodiversity offsets, solar, wind farms and other renewables. Contact P&E Law if you would like more information about opportunities to earn money by participating in the Commonwealth scheme.