Revised Carbon Offset Standard widens domestic credit market

The Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, has released a revised National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS), allowing Australian businesses to offset their products with pollution reduction under the government’s Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI).

“The Australian Government introduced the NCOS on 1 July 2010 to ensure national consistency and consumer confidence in the voluntary carbon market. The release of the revised Standard follows a review conducted in late 2011,” said Dreyfus.

“The Standard provides guidance on what is a genuine voluntary offset and sets minimum requirements for calculating, auditing and offsetting the carbon footprint of an organisation, product or event to achieve carbon neutrality.

“The NCOS provides a means of ensuring the integrity of the carbon offsets and carbon neutral products available in the Australian voluntary market for consumers and businesses alike.

“The NCOS has been revised in light of the Clean Energy Future package and the Carbon Farming Initiative and provides increased opportunities for consumers and businesses to access domestic offsets under the Standard.

“Carbon credits created under the CFI can now be used to meet carbon neutral commitments under the NCOS, providing another market for landholders who voluntarily undertake greenhouse gas abatement activities.”

The revised standard also allows carbon credits issued under the Australian Government’s previous Greenhouse Friendly scheme to be used to offset emissions under the NCOS.

The revised Standard is available at the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency’s website at www.climatechange.gov.au/ncos.