Developer South Pole has partnered with a local community group to establish nature-based offset projects in New South Wales, Australia.
South Pole and Landcare NSW – the 60,000-member strong state chapter of a community-based movement – will explore opportunities within a range of carbon and biodiversity options, they said in a joint statement Tuesday.
“As well as supporting our national decarbonisation efforts, developing these projects with landholders and local Landcare groups can provide new revenue streams for farmers and property owners while leading to direct productivity gains and positive environmental outcomes on the ground," said South Pole's head of climate action, Thomas Schroder.
Soil carbon, human-induced regeneration, beef cattle herd management, and forest management are some of the project types that will be considered, with an eye to registering projects that can generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).
The Australian government through its Emissions Reduction Fund is by far the biggest buyer of ACCUs, though there is a rapidly emerging secondary market amid increasing voluntary demand from domestic emitters.
On Monday, brokers Renewable Energy Hub announced that a 50,000-ACCU deal for Feb. 2023 went through on its CORE Markets platform at A$23.80, the highest price paid for Australian offsets since the government dismantled the Carbon Pricing Mechanism in 2014.
In addition to the initial work, South Pole and Landcare NSW will look at options to launch initiatives under the NSW biodiversity offset scheme.
South Pole has been rapidly expanding operations and acquisitions since an impact fund owned by the Liechtenstein royal family earlier this year paid €20-30 million to take a 10% stake in the firm.
That includes buying Belgian climate consultancy CO2logic and setting up a carbon removal purchase facility with Mitsubishi.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with South Pole to develop world-leading projects taking practical action to deal with climate change. We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote nature-based carbon sequestration and this partnership is a step in the right direction," said Adrian Zammit, CEO of Landcare NSW.
“Our partnership will take an innovative approach to make lasting change. It will see the development of carbon credit projects that deliver real, tangible benefits to the local communities in which our Landcare groups and landholders live and work throughout NSW."
This article originally appeared on Carbon Pulse
