SENATOR THE HON JOE LUDWIG
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
Cabinet Secretary, Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
MEDIA RELEASE
Government now accepting proposals for the carbon farming positive and negative lists
The Australian Government today published guidelines inviting farmers, landholders and other land managers to propose activities for the Positive and Negative Lists under the Governments Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI).
The Positive List identifies activities that will generate new, additional abatement and are therefore eligible under the CFI. The Negative List sets out activities that are excluded because they pose risks for the environment or communities.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, said the Carbon Farming Initiative offered opportunities for landholders and farmers, with the guidelines the next step in implementation.
This initiative is an important part of the Gillard Governments Clean Energy Future package, Minister Ludwig said.
Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, said the Carbon Farming Initiative has been carefully designed to avoid adverse impacts on communities, food security, water and the environment, while working to unlock important greenhouse gas abatement opportunities across regional Australia.
These guidelines will allow the positive list to grow as new activities are assessed, providing industry with opportunities to innovate and incentives to develop novel abatement technologies.
These guidelines provide CFI participants and communities with a clear process to suggest activities for inclusion on each list. The guidelines explain how proposed activities will be assessed and how communities can have their say on whether particular activities should be included, said Mr Dreyfus.
Legislation to implement the Carbon Farming Initiative, a voluntary carbon offset scheme that will financially reward farmers and landholders for reducing carbon pollution in the land sector and from legacy waste emissions, was passed by the Australian Parliament on 23 August 2011.
The Positive and Negative List guidelines can be accessed on the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency website at: www.climatechange.gov.au/cfi
MONDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2011
