The CFI aims to enable Australian farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate tradeable carbon credits. The agricultural sector accounts for over a quarter of the nation’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions. It also offers significant opportunities for emissions reductions through tree conservation and planting, improved land management, and new technology.

Challenges facing the CFI include effective codes of practice – for example, ensuring carbon remains locked up in ‘carbon forest’ plantations for at least 100 years. Carbon can also be locked up in soil.

CSIRO’s Dr Jeff Baldock says land clearing and agriculture in Australia have resulted in losses of 20–70 per cent of soil carbon, compared with undisturbed areas.

“This has created an opportunity for farmers to rebuild soil carbon,” Dr Baldock says.

If the CFI bill is passed by Parliament, it will become the world’s first legislated mechanism for generating carbon credits from farm projects. Read More