"There is a tide in the affairs of men,*
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries."
*And women.
The time has come to act on our beliefs. With no promotion, we have made 2 sales of soil carbon in a test marketing exercise. These are the only transactions in which money has changed hands for soil carbon credits in Australia to date. They prove that soil carbon can be traded and that a market exists for it.
In the absence of a standard methodology for direct measurement of soil C sequestration, but in the expectation that one will emerge within the next 3 years, we have developed "Provisional Carbon Credits" which rely on proxies and imputations to indicate carbon sequestration. The simple offering we make is 2 tonne CO2 per hectare (0.6t C) per year in soil where there has been a change in land management since 1990 (the Kyoto cut off date). The change in land management can be till to no till, crop to pasture or set stocking to grazing management. We are basing the amounts very conservatively on the attached indicative data, sourced from AGO and peer-reviewed sources. One of the authors of the AGO's Technical Report 43, a very prominent government scientist whose permission I do not have to name, for obvious reasons, is satisfied with the 'realistic' nature of our offering.
These "farm soil credits" are called 'provisional' because that is what they are: provisional until a direct measurement/full value methodology is available to us. When this happens, we would expect that the much higher figure for soil C sequestered would be revealed in the hectares already 'sold'. The space originally allocated would then be scaled back to represent 2 tonnes CO2 and the balance of the space released so that the soil C it contains can be traded. In this way neither the original buyer nor the landholder are disadvantaged. But it allows trading to start - which is important for the mission of the Carbon Coalition: achieving trade in soil C and engaging as many hectares as possible in the C sequestration that the planet needs urgently.
We have been working with soil authorities on a visual audit regime which they can administer. It is a simple five dimensional score card, covering groundcover, ploughing, controlled traffic, perenniality and biodiversity. A weighting factor is applied by region (plains, slopes and tablelands) to make allowances for temperature and rainfall. It is still being refined and will be presented at our next summit meeting between soil scientists and growers, to be held on 14 June at Orange, at the University. You are invited.
WE have packaged the CO2 for the 'Voluntary Carbon Market' - the retail market that exists outside the regulatory framework that is required for policing the need to reach mandatory abatement targets. Buyers in the voluntary market are volunteering to contribute towards the effort to redeem the planet in its climate crisis and care about where the carbon offsets come from. They look for a bundled offering: CO2 + cause + good works. In the trade it is called "gourmet carbon". The 'feel good' factor is critical. Brand X credits are not attractive to this market. Companies buy voluntarily to make a contribution and to make a statement about themselves. (Our first sale was a subscription for 2 tonnes/month from Pancake Parlor, a chain in Victoria. They are promoting the soil C story in their restaurants. See the Coalition blog.) People attracted to the soil story, people who want to encourage farmers and rural communities, and those interested in promoting regenerative farm practices will be attracted to our offering.
The core target audience we have selected is 'baby boomer grandparents' who a quietly desperate about climate change, can see no leadership or reassurance in the political sphere, and who fret that they won't be there to protect their grandchildren when things get out of hand. We are anticipating that they will welcome an opportunity to make a real impact on CO2 levels now by investing in healthy soil's powerful capacity to sequester. (There will be many other markets we haven't anticipated.) We will be relying on publicity to drive traffic to our website.
The amounts we are charging are based on the standard market voluntary one-off purchase price of $30/tonne CO2. We are charging $59/2tonnes CO2 and $46/2tonnes/month as a subscription (2 tonnes being the estimated emissions by an individual per month). The price of CO2 on the European market was 0.5 euros (80¢) when I looked just now, and US$3.75 on the Chicago Climate Exchange, or AUD$4.56. That's the commodity market, which serves the mandatory, 'grudge purchase' buyer. (The CCX takes 30% out of that price for soil credits traded for admin and auditing.) Long term predictions have the price up near €20.
We are bundling into our offering a contribution to the work of the Carbon Coalition to finance the unpaid activities - research, conferences, lobbying, presentations, travel, administration - that is required to achieve our goals. Now is not the time to take the foot off the accelerator. While success seems closer, and there are several groups trialling direct measurement methodologies, none are guaranteed of acceptance by the AGO and IPART (the weights and measures authorities). If the past is a guide, every obstacle will be placed in their way. Simply demonstrating soil C sequestration may not be enough. Public pressure must be applied, and a flourishing voluntary market is the best sort of pressure to apply.
The final "split" will be negotiated once we know audit and admin costs. But be assured, maximum return to the landholder is our basic principle.
We are inviting growers to register their interest at www.carbonfarmersofaustralia.com.au.
What does all this commit you to? Nothing. You can decide when you will be involved. You are not expected to put all your hectares up for 'sale' in one lot. Best to be flexible. For one reason, the prices could fluctuate wildly. For another, a new model could be approved which delivers higher prices immediately. We can envisage growers being involved in a number of schemes simultaneously. We are recommending 5 year contracts to give maximum flexibility... because 2012 is the beginning of Kyoto 2, which will most likely have emissions from agriculture as a category for capping. (We believe this will largely affect traditional tillers, those applying nitrogenous fertilizers, and those overgrazing. Methane is problematic - apparently termites emit more methane than livestock. But we'll see.)
You will find the website we intend to promote at http://adoptafarmerfightinggreenhouse.blogspot.com. The eventual address will be www.adoptafarmer.com.au - following on from our successful adoptasheep exercise. Although it is a personal appeal to the reader in the introduction, it is delivered on behalf of "Carbon Farmers".
If you have any advice or observations, please make them.
Onwards!
Michael
PS. We are still tinkering with the sites.
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