Audit requirements cut for low-risk plantation projects

Posted 02 September 2024

Economic benefits and markets Carbon benefits

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The audit requirements for low-risk plantation forestry projects in the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme have been reduced to one scheduled audit.

This aligns with the Clean Energy Regulator’s risk-based approach to manage compliance. It ensures that audits are targeted to situations where they can provide the greatest value in supporting the integrity of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme.

Low-risk plantation forestry projects that opt-in are instead subject to alternative assurance arrangements. These arrangements reduce administrative burden and incentivise scheme participation by lowering costs.

Private Forests Tasmania made a submission in early 2024 in support of the change, which could potentially save eligible plantation forestry projects tens of thousands of dollars in audit costs.

Eligibility

The project must:

• be covered by either or both Schedule 1 (new plantations) and Schedule 2 (conversion of short to long rotation plantation forests) of the 2022 plantation forestry method
• have an anticipated and reported carbon estimation area of no more than 200 hectares
• agree to be subject to geospatial monitoring and other compliance checks by the Clean Energy Regulator.

Existing and new projects are both eligible for the new arrangements.

Eligible projects registered under the 2017 plantation forestry method must vary to the 2022 method to apply for alternative assurance arrangements.

Maintaining integrity

Approved low-risk plantation forestry projects undertake an initial audit only. Primarily, this ensures the project follows the method and checks that the calculation tool, FullCAM, is calibrated correctly.

To support the reduced number of audits, the Clean Energy Regulator will use geospatial tools and other measures, including site visits and inspections, to verify carbon abatement is being achieved.

The Clean Energy Regulator said it has a high degree of confidence in using these tools to monitor the integrity of these projects because a plantation:

• is readily observable
• is planted uniformly
• typically, consists of one species.

Participants will be able to opt-in to the alternative assurance arrangements for eligible projects through the Clean Energy Regulator's website soon.