11 November 2020
Hi there,
If you’re receiving this email, it means we’ve spoken recently about an exciting climate venture opportunity. Our team will be sending weekly updates as we continue our journey.
Week 1 - Problem discovery
The working group has been investigating problems and opportunities across all parts of the carbon offset marketplace (demand, intermediaries and supply) on a global scale.
This weeks focus was supply in Australia
Farm visit insights
On the weekend of Nov 7/8, members of our team visited Helen & Mike Mckosker's regenerative farm near Wallangra, NSW. They run Angus cows on a 3000 acre mixed farming enterprise and are the masterminds behind Carbon8, a charity that helps industrial farmers make the transition to regenerative practices. Below are two key insights we heard:
01 Australian farmers are struggling to maintain their annual income, forcing exploration into regenerative practices
After years of industrial agricultural practices degrading soil health, Australian farmers are struggling to maximize annual yields and deal with the ever increasing severity of droughts. Rather than turning to costly chemical input solutions that mine soil nutrients, a new wave of farmers are turning to regenerative practices that improve soil health by sequestering and storing carbon from the atmosphere.
02 Farmers face complexities accessing the voluntary carbon offset market and are disincentivized by high agent fees
Farmers managing carbon credit projects face difficulties accessing a complex voluntary offset market, making it hard to maximise profits. Challenges exist in managing certification processes, third party audits and the eventual sale of credits, leaving farmers at the mercy of agents/brokers/registries who take a significant portion of the sale.
An evening with Aboriginal Elders
On the weekend of Nov 7/8, members of the team spent an evening with senior elders of the Bunjalung people. The elders spoke candidly about the catastrophic damage that has been inflicted on their land's water systems by the local agricultural industry, through the intense use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.