Big buzzwords at the moment are biodiversity payments, nature repair bill, and others
This week we’ll start to investigate these new market areas.
As you may know, Tanya Plibersek’s office has a Nature Repair Bill out for consultation.
According to the website: “The nature repair market will recognise landholders who restore or manage local habitat and grant them biodiversity certificates which can then be sold to other parties.”
That is a new market for farmers and land managers. Another important thing to note is that it is designed to run ‘alongside’ the ERF system.
So, for example, if a farmer is running a ‘tree planting’ project on his land, which can lead to the issuance of ACCUs (Australian Carbon Credit Units), AND he monitors the state of his land to show that he is protecting it from a decline in health, he may also be able to claim a ‘nature repair’ credit. But it potentially would not be restricted just to those with an ERF project.
As the consultation phase has just ended, the process of implementation will continue. The full draft bill can be found here: https://consult.dcceew.gov.au/nature-repair-market-exposure-draft. Many details to be figured out.
We have invited a representative from the department to speak at the inaugural Nature-Based Solutions Conference so we can hear the latest. Register here.
However, Australia is not the only ‘Nature Crediting’ Standard out there. In fact, it’s an area that has already had quite a deal of work and resultant methods.
There are organisations with excellent standards for monitoring ecological health or other parameters to indicate improvements to the environment. We hope to bring examples of some of these to the conference so you can understand the work that is going on.
This week, I’ll highlight an International Standard
Verra is an organisation that approves and develops various methods for projects – internationally.
Verra was founded in 2007 by environmental and business leaders who saw the need for greater quality assurance in voluntary carbon markets. They now manage the world’s leading voluntary carbon markets program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program.
The VCS Program is the world’s most widely used greenhouse gas (GHG) crediting program. It drives finance toward activities that reduce and remove emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect nature. VCS projects have reduced or removed nearly one billion tons of carbon and other GHG emissions from the atmosphere.
In other news: upcoming speaking engagement
I will also be speaking in Dubbo in June, at the Dubbo National Renewables in Agriculture conference. Here Farmers and experts will discuss topics including future fuels and farm vehicles, energy storage, navigating certificates schemes, and more. Ross Garnaut is the keynote speaker here. For details visit www.renewablesinagconference.com.au.
And of course, in July at the conference. See you there!
Onwards!
Expert, independent knowledge on how to access carbon and biodiversity markets. Register now for Early Bird rates!
Monday 17–Wednesday 19 July 2023