MEDIA STATEMENT
Carbon farming project developer Climate Friendly has hit a major milestone to sustainably reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. The company has reported that by the end of 2020 they exceeded their interim goal to deliver 20 million tonnes (Mt) of carbon abatement. Together with its carbon farming partners, the profit-for-purpose company is now working to scale up its impact towards a net zero Australia by 2050, aiming to deliver 100 million tonnes of carbon abatement by 2025.
The Australian company provides expert services and technology support to over 120 carbon projects covering more than 10 million hectares. The 20Mt carbon abatement has been achieved since Climate Friendly’s foundation, and mostly since 2015 in partnership with their carbon farming partners.
“Reaching this initial target is a major milestone for Climate Friendly and our carbon farming partners”, says Skye Glenday, CEO of Climate Friendly. “But we are always looking to the future in order to make a material impact to tackle the climate challenge. Our 2025 goal is intentionally ambitious, and we plan to set a 2030 medium term target this year to keep scaling our abatement contribution to support a net zero trajectory.”
The carbon sector has seen significant focus over the last year as businesses have refined their understanding of the economic impacts of climate change. 2020 saw a succession of major companies and government bodies joining the group of organisations committed to a net zero carbon target by 2050. The group now includes all Australian state and territory governments, and a growing number of ASX200 listed companies. This shift in support is seen in the growth in membership of the Investor Group on Climate Change, in addition to a string of public announcements by peak industry associations, including the Business Council of Australia and the National Farmers Federation calling for a national target of net zero carbon by 2050.
“Climate Friendly never stops innovating, and thankfully the market increasingly looks to carbon farming as an opportunity as well as a climate necessity. We want more Australian landholders to benefit by implementing smart land management practices that improve their agricultural enterprises whilst reducing greenhouse gases,” continues Ms Glenday.
Climate Friendly is developing a new active landscape management approach to carbon farming, working collaboratively with government, researchers and sector partners. Their modelling shows that active landscape management has the potential to sequester up to 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon over ten years. That is equivalent to 2.5 times the projected transport emissions of Australia from 2021 to 2030 (Source: derived from data in Australia’s Emissions Projections, DISER 2020)
Ms. Glenday added, “By supporting our carbon farming partners, we’re looking forward to hitting our 100Mt by 2025 goal, and helping to build a sustainable, world-leading, net zero land-sector in Australia.”
Media Enquiries:
Nigel Smith, Senior Communications Specialist
0491 638 615 nigel.smith@climatefriendly.com
