THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
Cabinet Secretary
Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH MARY GOODE – THE COUNTRY HOUR WITH ANNA VIDOT
E & O E – PROOF ONLY
8 DECEMBER 2011
SUBJECT: CARBON FARMING INITIATIVE
ANNA VIDOT: Well the Federal Government’s plan to help farmers, well for farmers to help
reduce carbon emissions gets going today. You’ve heard quite a bit about it up to this point the
Carbon Farming Initiative which the Government says enables farmers and landholders to earn
money for reducing pollutants – methane for example. Mary Goode spoke with the Parliamentary
Secretary for Climate Change, Mark Dreyfus.
MARK DREYFUS: This is the start of the Carbon Farming Initiative, which is a very important part of
the Clean Energy Future package. The Administrator of the Carbon Farming Initiative is open for
business today and from today it’s going to be possible for, as methodologies become available,
for farmers, land managers and owners, including Indigenous land managers and local
governments, to earn carbon credits by storing carbon or by reducing greenhouse gas emissions
on their land.
MARY GOODE: Not all the methodologies have been released, in fact only two have. Just explain
what are those methodologies where farmers can actually, ways that farmers can actually reduce
emissions and earn credits.
MARK DREYFUS: There’s an independent expert committee which approves the methodologies
and so far, in the lead up to the commencement today of the Carbon Farming Initiative, we’ve
approved a methodology for capturing methane from piggeries and another methodology for
capture and combustion of methane from landfills which is going to be of interest to local
governments right across Australia. In the coming weeks there’s going to be methodologies
approved for revegetation, that’s plantings of native species on previously cleared land and
another methodology which is going to be of use in the Top End in the high rainfall areas across
the Top End which is the savanna burning methodology.
MARY GOODE: So many farmers won’t be able to start actually earning credits from today, they’ll
have to wait till the methodologies are approved. Why is this taking so long?
MARK DREYFUS: We think it’s important to take time to make sure that the methodologies have
integrity because the methodologies lead to the ability to sell carbon credits and companies that
are purchasing carbon credits want to know that the credits represent real emissions reductions,
represent real sequestration of carbon in the landscape. It’s important that each of the
methodologies have integrity, that’s why there’s an independent expert committee, that’s why
scientists are working with industry to develop these methodologies and over the course of next
year we’re expecting that there’ll be further methodologies approved of particular interest to
farmers which will deal with things like reducing livestock emissions, reducing fertiliser use,
enhancing carbon with different agricultural soil management and restoring carbon in rangeland
systems. So over the course of the next year there’ll be those methodologies that will be
progressively approved.
MARY GOODE: And when do you expect the first one to be announced, or the next one to be
announced?
MARK DREYFUS: The very next one that’s going to be announced, or there’s a pair, there’s two,
are the revegetation methodology for planting of native species on previously cleared land and the
savanna burning methodology which is, as I said, primarily going to be of interest to people in the
high rainfall areas in the Top End.
ANNA VIDOT: That’s the Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change Mark Dreyfus, and when
those methodologies are announced of course we’ll give you those details here on the Tasmanian
Country Hour.
ENDS
