This would not only help farmers reduce emissions over the long term, but help improve Australia’s very poor environmental record. It would be in everyone’s interest if the measures included ways to boost environmental stewardship of rural areas. Details of the final deal are expected in coming months. So it’s understandable the National Party wanted compensation for farmers, and used the net-zero emissions target as a negotiation opportunity. This limit to land-clearing relieved pressure on other sectors of the economy to reduce carbon emissions.
Restrictions on land clearing mean more vegetation is retained, leading to carbon dioxide being drawn down from the atmosphere and stored in plants and soil. Following an extraordinary 1990 spike in land clearing, Australia was allowed to count reduced land-clearing toward its emissions reductions commitments. The belief is linked to the unique concession Australia won in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. It was then, according to the National Farmers Federation, that Queensland and New South Wales farmers became “victims of land clearing legislation that removed their property rights, without compensation”. Sentiment from farmers that they’re owed compensation for their emissions reduction efforts stems back to the 1990s and early 2000s. Mick Tsikas/AAP Why farmer think they’re owed It’s unclear what concessions the Nationals secured from Scott Morrison. What’s more, no coordinated strategy exists to maximise the value land-stewardship programs might deliver. It found landholders are often forced to rely on unreliable and insufficient funding and support when restoring land.
A recent study I was involved in explored how farmers can best be supported to do this.
This would be a huge missed opportunity.Īgriculture covers 58% of Australia’s land mass, and restoring farmland is one of the best ways to tackle climate and environmental issues over the long-term. We know it involves five-yearly reviews by the Productivity Commission to assess how regional Australia is faring throughout the transition, cutting red tape for farmers and a new cabinet position for the Nationals.īut so far, there’s no clear indication that the deal includes expanded measures to help farmers restore rural environments.
The terms of the agreement between Morrison and the Nationals have not been formally released. Farmers say they’ve done much of the heavy lifting on Australia’s emissions reduction and had been calling for a deal that addressed purported inequities of the past. The Nationals this week finally agreed to a plan of net-zero emissions by 2050.
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