Peak body recommends expanding mandatory emissions reporting

Large agribusinesses like cattle farming could be made to report their greenhouse gas emissions under a recommendation for changes to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act.

Large agri-businesses could be made to report their emissions under changes recommended to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act by the Climate Change Authority.

Large cattle producers such as Gina Rinehart or the Holmes a Court family could be made to report the emissions from farms under new recommendations from the independent Climate Change Authority.

In its review of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act, the authority said there was an opportunity to broaden coverage of the scheme to incorporate high-emitting industries such as agriculture that have key emissions-reduction opportunities. The review also found a demand for more detailed emissions and energy data and the potential to improve the accuracy of some emissions estimates.

“The agriculture and land sectors are key sources of emissions-reduction opportunities and biological sequestration, but these sectors also have hard-to-abate emissions of their own,” Authority CEO Brad Archer said.

“Farmers are also under increasing pressure from markets, financial institutions and supply chains to measure, report and reduce their on-farm emissions.”

The report said only larger agribusinesses within the agricultural sector are likely to run cattle herds big enough that their emissions alone could exceed the facility reporting threshold.