Climate change is fundamentally that we have different greenhouse gases which when released into our atmosphere have a heating effect as they absorb more infrared material. When businesses and consumers continue to emit these particular gases which are Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (NO2), Hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs), Per fluorocarbons (PFCs) and Sulphur Hexafluorides (SF6) our atmosphere will continue to heat up. To manage this phenomenon landholders and business owners can sequest or soak up CO2 from the atmosphere through a market based mechanization… Carbon Trading. Carbon credits allow businesses to set targets and then achieve these targets either through emission minimisation and /or purchasing carbon credits.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that was established to minimize pollution. By applying a dollar value to a carbon credit, businesses will aim to minimize the amount of greenhouse gases they emit, or otherwise they will pay by buying carbon credits. If businesses use less than their agreed quota, i.e. they emit less greenhouse gases than the agreed quota, they will effectively generate another income stream. Even though the Australian Government has not signed the Kyoto Protocol, Australian Businesses are acting now and being proactive as there are significant commercial opportunities, as well the real risk of trade restrictions imposed upon us. It is imperative when trading and polluting in a global economy that we work together. Businesses in this instance are leading and the Australian Government will continue to jeopardize our trading reputation and therefore potentially risk our access to global markets.
For trading purposes one carbon credit is equivalent to 1 Tonne of CO2 emission, one carbon credit or offset i.e. when we soak up the CO2 can be achieved through verified offset projects. The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) was established in 2003, historically there have been around half a million metric tones of CO2 offsets credits issued per annum. Carbon credits can be obtained through agricultural soil and methane projects, landfill methane, forestry and fuel or energy replacements. In 2005 the European Climate Exchange (ECE) was also established for trading carbon credits.
Table 1 : CO2 historical price in US Dollars, of carbon credits on CCX
Offset Aggregators should be used when you intend to trade less than 10,000 metric tones, this should present as an opportunity for regional Australia to establish and aggregate groups of buyers. For years we have been loosing valuable agricultural land to “hobby farm” or small acreage lots as growing regional centres cater for lifestyle choices. This would now present as an opportunity to aggregate and establish Carbon Credit banks for trading on the exchange, whilst contributing positively from an environmental, social and ecological perspective.
Regional businesses and councils would also be able to aggregate into pooling their carbon credits to combine into buying groups known as an “Offset Aggregators” to capitalize on this sustainable opportunity. One carbon credit project that can be verified is through Agricultural Soil Offsets, soil is ready now to be a carbon sink and with sustainable changes in agricultural practices can be a very productive carbon sink. One such aggregate group in Australia has been formed… the Carbon Coalition Against Global Warming. This group has to date recruited over 500 farmers to fight the battle over climate change. “ If we were able to increase soils carbon just 1% in only 10% of Australia's agricultural soils, we could 'sequester' or extract from the air 10 years' worth of our emissions. Do it 4 years in a row and that's 40 years' worth of emissions.” For more information or to join the group visit www.carboncoalition.com.au.
Image 1 : "Uamby" rested paddocks on right
One active member of the group is Michael Kiely, Michael also established www.adoptasheep.com.au so that he could hand feed his flock during the drought. Supporters adopted a sheep for $35 which paid for the feed during the drought. This enabled some paddocks to be rested and the dramatic results can be seen in Image 1, these rested paddocks prove to be excellent carbon sinks.
So with some regional business cohesiveness, sustainable approaches to the way we do business, we should all benefit threefold on the triple bottom line.
|
