Media Release - 17 August 2000

Carbon Sink Science: Building Consensus

The Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Accounting (Greenhouse CRC) launches its four day Annual Science Meeting (ASM2000) at Rydges Hotel in Canberra on Monday 21 August. The Greenhouse CRC was established in 1999 as the new scientific leader in carbon sinks under the innovative CRC Program administered by AusIndustry.

The ACT Minister for Environment, Mr Brendan Smyth MLA, will open ASM2000 at 9:45am. Senator Lyn Allison, Chair of the Senate Inquiry into Global Warming will address a plenary session on Wednesday 23 August. The meeting also includes addresses on Australia's position in the international scene from senior members of The Australian Greenhouse Office; and from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change leader and CRC CEO, Prof Ian Noble FTSE.

“ASM2000 is the first major opportunity" Prof Noble said "for leading researchers from Perth to Rockhampton to meet and assess scientific progress to date and to learn how to translate it into better, more productive dialogue with industry, land management and conservation agencies."

Greenhouse CRC Industry Partners include Shell of Australia, Alcoa, Stanwell Corporation and Saltbush. The CRC also works closely with the Sydney Futures Exchange on emissions trading and recently addressed the controversial Lavoisier Group on the value of sinks in meeting greenhouse targets.

"As we head into the new century," Prof. Noble added, "all Australians must accept responsibility both for their natural environment and their economic desires and move this greenhouse debate along. In opening up some of our working sessions to practical, non-adversarial discussions of greenhouse issues, we help our members understand the wider context in which they work. This can only be beneficial to Australia's progress in the long run."

The astonishing level of industry and community interest in sinks was obvious when the Greenhouse CRC recently advertised a high-level industry briefing by email and found it oversubscribed within two weeks. So many expressions of interest were received that further briefings are being considered during the hectic lead up to the next round of complex Kyoto Protocol talks at The Hague in November this year.

The first day of the ASM2000 concludes with the official opening of the CRC headquarters in Canberra at ANU at 6pm. The ANU Vice-Chancellor will open the offices followed by an address on the value of science communication by former journalist and well-known CSIRO senior staffer, Julian Cribb. On display in the new offices is a striking series of images entitled "Landscapes of South-Eastern Australia" by photographer, John Reid. The ASM2000 at Rydges Canberra also features the poignant oral and photographic history collection The People's Forest created by radio journalist Gregg Borschmann.

Joint venture partners in the Greenhouse CRC are the Australian National University, NSW State Forests and NSW Land and Water Conservation, The Australian Greenhouse Office, CSIRO, Queensland Departments of Natural Resources and Primary Industries and CALM WA.

If sinks projects are implemented within a framework of sustainable development, major benefits will flow to Australia’s economy and environment. Sinks may provide additional money for revegetation projects and establishment of new commercial forest plantations, potentially creating a revenue stream for agriculture and other land holders to conserve existing native vegetation or revegetate their land. If properly managed, environmental benefits include increased soil organic matter, protection and enhancement of biodiversity and remnant vegetation, reduced risk of salinity, production of biofuels to replace fossil fuels and an increase in wood production from plantations.

Sinks provide attractive benefits, including visible demonstration of an enterprise's commitment to the environment; a low cost per tonne of CO2 sequestration and the potential for on-going greenhouse gas credits. Ultimately, sinks have a finite carbon storage capacity but over the next few decades they can make an important contribution to mitigating greenhouse gas accumulation. Sinks have the potential to buy time for Australia to make the transition from its current dependence on fossil fuels to a wider mix of more 'greenhouse and land use' friendly energy technologies.


Interviews: CRC Expert Representatives

  • SINKS & TRADING: Professor Ian Noble, CEO
  • KYOTO: Prof Graham Farquhar, Deputy CEO
  • FORESTS: Dr John Raison, CRC Program Leader
  • SOIL: Mr John Carter, CRC Program Leader
  • INDUSTRY: Prof Snow Barlow, CRC Business Communications

Media Liaison: CRC Communications Officers