A revegetation project in Australia’s western wheatbelt has become the nation’s first to earn Gold Standard certification, with project owner Carbon Neutral able to offer over 1.2 million voluntary carbon credits to the market.

The project involves planting shrubs and trees in Western Australia’s wheatbelt, which will keep carbon emissions out of the atmosphere.

According to data from CTX, GS offsets were last week offered to market at €2.82 each, although they fetch higher prices in smaller volumes in the retail market.

In a statement, Carbon Neutral said it is “experiencing growing demand for reducing carbon emissions from Australian businesses, including some of the nation’s leading corporates”.

“Demand will be from a diverse range of existing and new clients. We’ve just today taken an order from a major 50+ story landmark building in Perth CBD to offset the building’s core service,” CEO Ray Wilson told Carbon Pulse by email.

Activity in the voluntary market in Australia has been low-key in recent years, as developers targeted the limited scope to sell a small amount of offsets, through the Carbon Farming Initiative, or like the CO2 Group – Australia’s biggest carbon developer – pursued new growth areas.

But the current government’s abolishment of the carbon price last year means the nation’s 500 biggest emitters no longer pay a mandatory carbon price, yet many face consumer pressure to reduce their climate footprint.

“Australian companies now view environmental responsibility as a critical component of their business, and they are increasingly being measured on their performance by consumers, investors and auditors,” Wilson said.

By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com

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