Two well-known carbon companies have given enforceable undertakings over consent forms that the Clean Energy Regulator alleges were improperly amended.
The ERF should provide primary industry with incentives for avoided soil carbon loss, just as it rewards avoided deforestation, according to leading soil carbon experts.
The Coalition says its plan to allocate a tenth of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation's budget for projects that protect the Great Barrier Reef would make it easier for Queensland agribusinesses and utilities to benefit from CEFC support.
Emissions from a spike in land clearing rates, especially in Queensland, will needlessly cost the economy well over $1 billion between now and 2030, a new report by CO2 Australia shows.
Offset provider Corporate Carbon has successfully registered with the Clean Energy Regulator the first two projects authorised to earn credits by sequestering carbon in soil.
A total of 26 carbon offset projects succeeded in registering with the Clean Energy Regulator in March, compared to only five in the same period last year.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt has gazetted a new carbon credits method that will allow companies and other organisations to obtain ERF money for energy efficiency upgrades.
The Federal Government should specify a default carbon sequestration rate for soil-based projects, so they can get going quickly, an offsets consultancy has recommended.
Official estimates of how many tonnes of greenhouse gas must be abated to achieve a 5% target are now laughably over-stated, says the ANU's Andrew Macintosh, who also warns Queensland's wind-back of land clearing laws will cause an emissions spike.
Draft CFI changes go part of the way to enabling states to create valuable carbon credits by reducing native forest logging on Crown Land – but major roadblocks remain, says ANU forests and carbon expert Andrew MacIntosh.