If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our or .
Greening Australia says agriculture should be included in the Federal Government’s carbon trading scheme as soon as possible.
The scheme is due to be introduced in 2010, but a decision about agriculture’s participation is yet to be made.
Organisations such as Greening Australia will be able to create carbon credits through tree and vegetation planting and sell them to companies unable to reduce their emissions by other means.
The organisation’s carbon director Rick Humphries says a correctly designed emissions trading program will be able to ensure that small enterprises remain competitive while carbon reduction targets are met.
“We are aware that with agriculture there are some serious issues around carbon accounting and the fact it’s a very dispersed sector (with) a lot of small operators and we have to get the accounting right in order to get the outcome,” he said.
“So Greening Australia supports agriculture coming in as soon as possible. But we know there are some scheme designs we have to get right before including agriculture.”
Carbon trading is among the issues that will be discussed at the Veg Futures 2008 Conference being attended by more than 500 vegetation experts in Toowoomba this week.
Greening Australia says the Government is likely to set a low carbon price for the first couple of years of its emissions trading scheme to give the economy time to adjust.
Mr Humphries says an organisation similar to the Reserve Bank is likely to guide an open market once it becomes established.
He says a price of $20 a tonne is being discussed.
“There have been some trades in the Australian carbon market, such that it is around the market and what point it will plateau and that’s the uncertainty at the moment around price,” he said.
Sourced From