CO2 Australia, a division of CO2 Group, today announced it has successfully achieved a Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) Methodology Determination in relation to its Reforestation and Afforestation Methodology from the Domestic Offsets Integrity Committee (DOIC).
CO2 Australia can now register almost 30,000 hectares of reforestation carbon projects that it manages under the CFI and commence the production of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU’s), which are tradable under the Australian Carbon Pricing Mechanism.
“This is a hugely exciting and commercially significant outcome for CO2 Group,” said Mr Andrew Grant, Chief Executive Officer, CO2 Group. CO2 Australia is the leading developer of reforestation carbon projects within Australia, having established forests across four states on behalf of major corporations and government agencies seeking to manage their greenhouse gas emissions.
“Now that we have the Determination, its ‘game-on’ for registering projects under the CFI and we are looking forward to getting on with the business of generating ACCUs for our clients” added Mr Grant.
CO2 Australia’s Reforestation and Afforestation Methodology Determination is the first privately developed methodology in the forest sector to reach the Determination stage and the first to apply in-field carbon accounting approaches.
“This is a highly complex and technical piece of work that leverages CO2 Group’s 10-year investment in developing commercial-scale, carbon accounting systems. Following 18 months of working through the DOIC’s rigorous review process, we are tremendously proud to have achieved this milestone which confirms our solid expertise in the carbon space,” said Dr Bulinski, Director, CO2 Australia.
This achievement continues CO2 Group’s diversification strategy across all areas of the carbon market, following the company’s successful expansion into the carbon advisory services sector and the launch of several international carbon projects over the past 12 months.
“This is a great outcome for the CFI because it demonstrates that it is possible for credentialed private sector players to successfully enter the CFI at a commercially significant scale. We can expect to see the registration of forest carbon projects and the pace of ACCU generation to speed up over the next few months,” added Dr Bulinski.
The Methodology Determination was signed off by the Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, and formally came into effect as a legal instrument last week. Under the rules of the CFI, the accounting approach detailed in the Determination cannot be challenged for 15 years, which provides considerable investment certainty to anyone looking to fund a forest carbon project.
“This is a great achievement for the Gillard Government and CO2 Australia, the innovative company that drove the development of this methodology,” said Mr Greg Combet, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.
“Through effective partnerships like this, we are building additional revenue streams for landholders and farmers under the Carbon Farming Initiative, while helping to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and protect our unique environment.”
CO2 Group hopes to expand the use of its Methodology Determination to other strategic partners and actively encourages anyone who is interested in developing projects, or methodologies, under the CFI, to contact them to discuss partnership opportunities.
CO2 Australia is the country’s largest developer of reforestation-based carbon projects, having developed more than 26,400 hectares (or 39 million trees) of dedicated carbon plantings in Australia.