The Carbon on Farm project began in 2009 through funding from the Australian Government's Caring for our Country initiative. The projects purpose was to help primary producers prepare for a carbon constrained economy and outlines how landholders can play a positive role in reducing carbon emissions.
Workshops demonstrated how producers can calculate their property's carbon footprint as well as the potential carbon sequestration opportunities available. The workshops looked at the carbon policy and explained how farmers can make money by cutting greenhouse emissions or grow trees as an environmental or carbon offset under the Australian Government's Carbon Farming Initiative.
Carbon Farming Initiative project transition into the Emissions Reduction Fund
The Emissions Reduction Fund came into effect as of December 2014..
The bill establishes the Emissions Reduction Fund to replace the carbon tax and provides a transition for the Carbon Farming Initiative by amending the:
- Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 to:
- provide for the Clean Energy Regulator to conduct auctions and enter into contracts to purchase emissions reductions;
- enable a broader range of emissions reduction projects to be approved;
- and amend the project eligibility criteria and processes for approving projects and crediting carbon credit units;
- Australian National Registry of Emissions Units Act 2011, Clean Energy Regulator Act 2011 and National Greenhouse Energy and Reporting Act 2007 to make consequential amendments.
It also provides for transitional arrangements in relation to:
- the Register of Offsets Projects, which will be renamed the Emissions Reduction Fund Register and will include information about contracts to purchase emissions reductions; and
- existing Carbon Farming Initiative projects and methodologies and applications for new projects.
Existing Carbon Farming Initiative projects will be automatically transitioned to the Emissions Reduction Fund. Changes to current and new methods will not affect existing projects.
Existing projects will have the option to continue to use the version of the method in force when their project was approved, or to apply to use another applicable Emissions Reduction Fund method.
What does this mean for new land sector and waste projects?
Until 1 July 2015, applications for new project registrations can be lodged under the eligibility rules and methods which are currently in place under the Carbon Farming Initiative.
From 1 July 2015, new applications will be assessed under the Emissions Reduction Fund eligibility rules and must apply the most up-to-date version of the relevant method.
