Alex Toone, executive general manager – commodities, trade and carbon, at Commonwealth Bank says the bank often sees institutional customers being very prescriptive and specific on where their ACCUs come from in terms of which state and industry.

For example, Toone says indigenous-generated credits are popular because they provide a broader societal benefit by supporting activity and traditional land management by indigenous communities. Toone says ‘savannah fire management’ ACCUs, generated by First Peoples communities are valued because they provide broader environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits. Toone says, similarly customers value projects where revegetation of land supports biodiversity, e.g. native flora and fauna, creating greater ecosystem resiliency. Looking forward, Australia has unique coastal resources where we can rehabilitate coastal mangroves and sea grass meadows “which are a very efficient carbon sink”.

“These co-benefits are becoming increasingly important in both ACCU markets and in international voluntary markets. We are seeing increasing stratification in price where people are willing to pay a significant premium for credits that bring co-benefits,” Toone says.

The market price of generic ACCUs has recently been trading at around $30 a tonne, whereas indigenous credits trade at $50 and above.

“This is where Australian carbon credits and carbon markets become important because you put a price on action as well as create a financial incentive for decarbonisation across the economy,” Toone says.

For ISPT, indigenous carbon credits align with the governing principles of their ACCU acquisition strategy which Maynard says is to ensure “we get those rich, social outcomes in Australia” and be able to illustrate those outcomes in a transparent manner to customers and investors.

Maynard says “from 2018, we spent the next two years working out what our pathway to carbon neutral would look like and we sought third party verification of our data baseline, as well as what options we had to procure ACCUs from the market driven from three guiding principles.”

“They needed to be Australian, connected with community and preferably the indigenous community as well as being in alignment with ISPT’s risk appetite statement,” Maynard says.

Toone says Commonwealth Bank’s deep understanding of carbon markets has been built over nine years and the bank is developing technology and data infrastructure to help clients on their entire decarbonisation journey.

As for the role of carbon markets, Commonwealth Bank’s Toone says “carbon will be priced into everything we and our customers consume and create and so using rich data and technology will really help clients manage their own carbon path”.

“We want to help develop a frictionless, liquid and transparent carbon market to help our clients manage the challenge of decarbonising but also develop the products and services of the future decarbonised world,” Toone says.

For Maynard, ISPT’s investors and the communities in which “we hold our investments have felt the impacts of climate change”.

“Our board and executives are unanimously in agreement that we will take immediate and direct action on climate change, and we will maintain that carbon neutral commitment in perpetuity. I would encourage others to do the same as it’s simply not an option to wait,” Maynard says.

This information is published solely for informational purposes. As this information has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs, you should, before acting on the information, consider its appropriateness to your circumstances. Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 and AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 234945.