Why we began

In 2019, very few Australian farmers were interested in carbon farming projects. The opportunity was there but few seemed keen to get involved.

If climate action through land-based carbon projects was to scale up, it seemed as though farmers needed a new option for carbon project establishment and management.

Driven by a strong belief in the ability for agriculture and nature to work well together, Carbon West founder Jennifer West set out to find a ‘farmer friendly’ approach to carbon project establishment on commercial agricultural land.

Jen felt confident that the emerging carbon industry could present an opportunity for farmers, not a threat. Perhaps some farmers wanted a fee-for-service consultant, not a 25-year share-farming contract?

Having grown up in a farming family and later run a broadacre farming enterprise with her husband, Jen wanted to stand firmly on the landholder side of carbon project assessment, development and management.

“I set out to help agricultural businesspeople better understand the reality of a registered carbon sequestration project. Though complex, ACCU Scheme carbon projects could be valuable to the overall viability of a farming enterprise. I felt it was important that farmers had an option to retain full control and ownership of a project if self-funding was possible, but that option just wasn’t available.”

Just as businesses engage technical experts in various parts of their enterprise, such as accountants, mechanics and agronomists, Jen wanted to offer carbon project development services on a fee-for-service basis, too.

Jen felt that it was more often the long-term partnership agreements and ACCU-share contracts which farmers baulked at than the actual implementation of a carbon sequestration project. And at a time when carbon drawdown was crucial to future climate stability, that barrier was not useful.

Through Carbon West, Jen offered an alternative.

If a farmer could afford to cover the full cost of project development themselves, they could own and manage 100% of the ACCUs they could generate.

“Many farmers are crazy busy and fiercely independent, so the cost and time requirement of legal and financial complexity is not appealing” Jen said. “So I found that when the only option for developing a carbon project involved lawyers, complex financial agreements that would last 25 years, most would reject the idea completely.

That’s why Carbon West was built differently.

• No third-party partners.

• No ACCU share agreements.

• No 25-year lock-ins.

Instead, it offers straightforward guidance, technical expertise, and project management on a fee-for-service basis. Its mission is to make complex carbon methodologies understandable, transparent, and accessible—while ensuring the farmer retains full ownership and control.

Carbon West’s mission is simple: to support high-integrity projects that deliver both environmental and on-farm benefits—without the strings attached.