Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

As you know, there are international accounting rules for carbon. This is a good thing because in the international community we want everyone to play their part and do their fair share. To know what is fair we need to be able to measure it. Accounting rules provide ways and methodologies for measurement of what a tonne of carbon is and therefore what has to occur in order for it to be regarded as being sequestered.

Through the negotiations, Australia has advocated for what we regard as more sensible accounting rules. There are some anomalies, and one, which I think you would be aware of, is where there is difficulty in differentiating between the emissions from natural disturbances such as bushfires and emissions from human activity. This is important because a country should not have to account for emissions from disturbances like a bushfire but should be able to account for land management activities that are properly measurable. There are certainly potential benefits in soil carbon and a whole range of other sequestration opportunities. The issue is: can we measure that properly? Can we ensure that we have consistent measurement of that? Australia is absolutely advocating for a better set of rules that reflect our national circumstances, and this includes a more comprehensive and fairer way to look at land sector management.