31 May 2010

Red tape ties up green programs

You may have heard that the Federal Government will wind up the Greenhouse Friendly™ certification programme on 1 July 2010.

The intended replacement for Greenhouse Friendly™ is the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS), but this standard was intended to complement the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), which has now been postponed until at least 2012/13.  

NCOS does not provide a standard for Kyoto compliant forestry offset programs, instead relying on the CPRS to address forestry emissions and abatement - however, now that the CPRS has been shelved there is a void in the system once Greenhouse Friendly™ ceases.

As you know, Greenfleet invested considerable time, resources and budget into gaining approval under the Greenhouse Friendly™ scheme during 2007, announcing that we had gained approval in early 2008. 

I have been lobbying on Greenfleet's behalf to ensure a suitable regulatory framework is available after 1 July.   However, with just one month to go, there has been no indication that Greenhouse Friendly™ will continue, nor will any replacement standard or transition arrangements be in place.

Greenfleet is not alone in this situation - several other Australian offset providers are adversely affected by this impending regulatory void.  However, this does not mean we should stop taking action on climate change.

Until a suitable replacement program is implemented, Greenfleet willcontinue to operate to the Greenhouse Friendly™ standard, which is widely recognised as being robust and credible.  We will also consider our options under NCOS.

We urge you to continue taking action to reduce the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on our planet.  The more forests we plant and the sooner we plant them, the faster they will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to reduce the effects of climate change and repair Australia's degraded landscape.

We also encourage you to contact your local politicians to request that the Greenhouse Friendly™ program be continued until a suitable replacement is implemented....

Thank you for your continued support.

Sara Gipton

CEO - Greenfleet