The Carbon Farming Initiative ("CFI")
is a voluntary carbon offsets scheme which aims to provide
incentives for the agricultural and forestry sectors to minimise
greenhouse gas emissions or maximise carbon storage by altering
their agricultural practices.
The incentives are in the form of carbon credits which can be
earned by reducing greenhouse gas emissions or storing carbon on
their land.
As carbon credits can be sold to persons and businesses wanting
to reduce their carbon foot print, the CFI provides farmers and
land managers with an additional source of revenue whilst helping
the environment by reducing carbon pollution.
The CFI is part of a legislative package which came into effect
on 8 December 2011. One of the main purposes of this package is to
provide long-term certainty to participants in carbon offset
schemes and to underpin the environmental integrity and market
value of carbon credits, being Australian Carbon Credit Units
("ACCUs").
