Overview
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (the department) is seeking feedback on proposed changes to the Supplement to the Australian Carbon Credit Units Scheme’s Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative – Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models) Methodology Determination 2021 (the method).
In April 2026, the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC) concluded a periodic review of the method and found there was reasonable evidence the method no longer complied with the Conservative OIS. The ERAC recommended immediately capping credited abatement to an equivalent of 3 tonnes of soil organic carbon (SOC) per hectare per year (3 t C/ha/yr) after method prescribed discounts.
In response, the department will amend the document containing the method’s supporting calculations (the method Supplement) so that projects with a 25-year permanence period can only receive credits for SOC accruals up to 3 t C/ha/yr (after permanence and risk of reversal discounts).
The department is seeking feedback on:
implementing a cap on creditable soil organic carbon accrual, to ensure crediting under the method is conservative; and
how the Australian Government could improve sampling guidance in future updates to the Supplement.
The department is also proposing minor improvements to the Supplement to make it easier to use.
