Emissions reporting: Coalition to push for carve out for farmers, small business

The federal Opposition is pushing for farmers and small businesses to be exempt from the Albanese government’s climate reporting regime, in line with the US, Japan and Canada.

The federal Opposition is pushing for farmers and small businesses to be exempt from the Albanese government’s climate reporting regime, in line with the US, Japan and Canada.

The federal government’s mandatory climate disclosure legislation is expected to be debated in the Senate this week when shadow treasurer Angus Taylor will push for amendments including the removal of scope three emissions reporting.

The federal government’s original Bill captured farmers’ emissions as scope three for businesses such as major food retailers and super funds with agricultural assets.

“While the Coalition is not opposed to reasonable disclosure regimes, this legislation is a red tape bomb that will hurt Australian farmers, small businesses, and ultimately raise prices,” Mr Taylor said.

“The United States, Canada, Japan and most of Australia’s trading partners do not require the reporting of scope 3 emissions.”

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor wants scope 3 emissions removed from mandatory climate-related financial reporting. Picture: Martin Ollman

Earlier this year the Prime Minister proposed to introduce a climate-related financial disclosure regime for large Australian companies that would be phased in over three years, beginning with companies with more than $500 in revenue from July next year.

The National Farmers’ Federation is lobbying for a carve out for farmers, or at least a delayed reporting date beginning in 2035.

“The farm sector is opposed to formalising scope 3 emissions reporting unless and until we can clearly understand the impacts of the shared cost and time commitment of the likely compliance burden,” the NFF said in a letter to the Treasury.

RaboBank has released a new guide for its farming clients amid growing expectations to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The guide is designed to help farmers navigate corporate emissions reporting.

“As these expectations start to flow back towards farm level, understanding the basic

concepts around emissions measurements – including the different scopes of emissions,

what a farm’s greenhouse gas footprint is made up of and the significance of key emissions metrics – is becoming important in preparing farmers for these fast-approaching changes,” RaboResearch sustainability analyst Anna Drake said.

Climate science expert, Professor Rodney Keenan says many farmers are already aware of their carbon footprint.

Neither Woolworths or ALDI were prepared to publicly comment on what steps they were taking to gather emissions data from suppliers in preparation for the passing of the new legislation.

Metcash spokesman Steve Ashe said data capture was already occurring in IGA’s fresh food space, focusing on forest, land and agriculture.

“We have run our categories through a high-level emissions hotspot analysis and will shortly be leveraging a third party Life Cycle Assessment emissions tool to quantify those emissions,” Mr Ashe said.

“Going forward, we will be gathering more granular data directly from our suppliers.”

Coles began setting targets for some suppliers to reduce their emissions by 2027, with progress on reaching those targets assessed this year.

“We recognise collaboration is critical in reducing Scope 3 emissions, and we’re committed to working closely with our suppliers to help them become more resilient in a changing climate,” a Coles spokeswoman said.

Leading climate change expert Rodney Keenan said climate reporting wasn’t a new concept for many in the agriculture sector.

“Different proponents have been asking livestock producers to indicate their carbon balance for a while now, giving them a market advantage,” he said.

But Dr Keenan said the federal government should make some allowances for farmers, such as giving them more time to build up their capability and for tools and training to be more accessible.