Australia developing voluntary emissions standards for agriculture, fisheries and forestry

Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water is developing voluntary greenhouse gas accounting standards for agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors as farmers face higher pressure from supply chains and the finance sector to provide accurate GHG emissions data.

The government's obligatory climate-related financial disclosures, traceability requirement for market access, as well as the employment of science-based emissions reduction targets are some of the factors driving this demand, the department said in its release Oct. 25.

These reporting standards aim to enhance the accuracy and consistency of accounting methods and tools, fine tune GHG accounting at the farm level for greater market access and further mitigation action support, and finally reduce the reporting burden on farmers and landowners by giving them reliable tools to understand their emissions.

Further, the government has established a Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Estimation and Reporting Standards Reference Group that is intended to guide and aid in the development of standards for the aforementioned sectors, as well the as eventual incorporation of these standards into existing GHG calculators and accounting tools.

The Reference Group encompasses stakeholders from the industry, supply chains, agricultural service providers, First Nations, the finance sector, research organizations, and the government.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, previously reported Aug. 23 that the Australian Senate proposed a legislation for medium and large-sized companies to measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions by type, referred to as scopes.

This mandatory climate reporting is expected to come into force on Jan. 1, 2025, starting with the largest emitters, companies, and financial institutions.