The Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Accounting was established in 1999 to provide research outputs for greenhouse gas emissions accounting at the national and project level and to provide fundamental understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle for Australian Government policy formulation. The CRC's research effort is currently organised around four major themes: understanding processes that control carbon sequestration, methodologies for measuring carbon stocks in vegetation components, measuring soil carbon stocks and understanding their dynamics and integration and application activities designed to explore management options for increasing terrestrial carbon sequestration.
The most significant challenge facing the CRC is the need to implement its research agenda within a national and international context of rapid policy shifts and strong and sometimes competitive research activity. The CRC management has responded to this challenge by adopting an evolutionary approach to strategic planning in which the research structure is regularly assessed against the changing external demands. The first such reassessment is nearing completion and has resulted in proposed changes to the CRC's research structure. The major changes are (i) an aggregation and integration of research on soil carbon and its closer linkage to work on biomass carbon, (ii) a more focused approach to model-based integration and the application of the CRC's research, and (iii) a rapid-response capability to deal with urgent policy demands on a flexible yet coherent basis.
Given this transitional state of the research structure, the Review Panel assessed the first two years of the CRC's work against the original set of activities described in Schedule 1 of the Agreement with the Commonwealth of Australia but in anticipation of the approval and implementation of the new structure.
The Panel found a sound record of achievement with nearly 90% of Year 2 milestones either met completely or nearly met. More importantly, the Panel sensed a high level of enthusiasm in the CRC staff, a clear feeling of purpose, a developing culture of teamwork and a sense of direction that bode well for the future of the CRC. The CRC is now poised to achieve a unique blend of world class fundamental research with the delivery of new knowledge to support policy formulation and industry response. In noting these achievements, the Panel recognised the outstanding leadership of the CEO in bringing the CRC from its inception through these first difficult years to such a strong and promising position.
Against this overall impression of solid accomplishment in its first stage and potential to achieve considerably more, the Panel made six recommendations designed to help the CRC further focus its research effort and enhance its ability to apply its work to policy formulation, greenhouse gas mitigation, and education.
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