CO2 Australia, a division of CO2 Group has received regulatory approval from the industry regulator for its Refforestation and Afforestation Methodology used for the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI). This good news means that from July 2013, CO2 Australia can begin selling carbon credits.
With this approval from the Domestics Offsets Integrity Committee (DOIC), CO2 Australia can register 26,400 hectares (or 39 million trees) of reforestation 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.
“Now that we have this approval – officially called a 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.
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.
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