September 2022 - WA Carbon Connections
This month
Positive signs for positive action
Chubb review of ERF integrity
Better Futures Forum next week
First, the prices being paid for ACCUs and what the EU ETS lists as their carbon credit price.
Positive signs
Methodology reviews. Biodioversity credits. New ‘whole farm’ methodology. Soil carbon technologies.
News items containing positive news for all the things Carbon West has been hoping for have been coming in thick and fast this past month.
Anthony Albanese announced that the Clean Energy Regulator will be charged with not only the methodologies to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units, but also a scheme which will create biodiversity credits. Learn more here.
The Integrated Farm Management Methodology (the new methodology which will allow carbon sequestration in both trees and soil to be credited within a single project) expected to be available around March 2023. This is an exciting opportunity to ensure land restoration and agricultural not only co-exist, but also help each other thrive. Read more about the IFM method here.
Carbon West also has had a very exciting month, too. We’ve taken our first spectrometry measurements on Cullen Wines soil carbon project area in Wilyabrup. Accompanied by the awesome crew from Hone Carbon, our hand-held spectrometer leaped (or beeped!!) into action, giving real time readings on soil samples extracted from the site.
We also felt like we were seeing a new dawn when we connected with farmers in Bunbury, thanks to the Future Food Network and the South West Catchments Council to talk about the nitty-gritty of running an ERF soil carbon project. It was refreshing for us to present to a group of highly engaged landholders who had already graduated from Carbon 101 and were, therefore, ready to delve into the detail of what it would be like to run a project on their properties.
This is a promising sign that farmers in WA are developing their understanding of how carbon is going to play a role in their operations in the coming years! Find out about FFN here.
The ERF’s integrity review
Former Australian chief scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, has been appointed to lead a review into several aspects of the Emissions Reduction Fund carbon crediting system, with priority on ensuring the integrity of the methodologies and the carbon credits they create.
Maintaining the integrity of the ERF will be crucial to ensuring its success.
So, we are eagerly anticipating the outcomes of this review, and hoping that its recommendations will improve the validity of all carbon credits. Read the media release here.
Better Futures Forum
The Better Futures Forum is on this week and Carbon West will be there.
Workshops and presentations this Tuesday and Wednesday, Septemer 6-7, will be an exciting snapshot of sustainable developments in Australia.
“The Better Futures Forum, 6-7 September 2022, provides a platform for Australian companies, local, state and territory governments and community organisations to publicly launch their commitment to more ambitious climate action and plan ways to collaborate, including with the newly elected government, to create better futures for us all.”
The two-day event, held in Canberra is also online, if you’re interested in attending, seeing what’s on the program or learning more, visit their website here: www.betterfutures.org.au/forum
Quote of the week
“A reasonable agriculture would do its best to emulate nature. Rather than change the earth to suit a crop it would diversify its crops to suit the earth.”
- Verlyn Klinkenborg.