nature credit

Carbon credits introduced us to the idea that one person could do something (maybe plant trees in a paddock) which could then be officially valued in terms of benefit to the environment and sold as a credit to someone else who was in danger of breaching their carbon allowance in the carbon tax system.

This was followed by the biodiversity credit, a unit of value given to a piece of land in terms of its conservation significance.  It could be a matter of either protecting existing land or restoring land that had been adversely affected and provides an incentive to undertaking such protection and restoration. In the bill that was introduced earlier this year by David Littleproud this credit scheme was available only to farmers.  Tanya Plibersek wants to extend the scheme so that others can access it.  So not just farmers but businesses and conservation groups.

But who will buy these credits?  Businesses that want to impress their shareholders and the public generally with their green credentials may be interested.  For those businesses that would find it impossible to get out and restore some damaged environment themselves, this is a path that allows them to contribute to saving the environment at one step removed. Naturally Plibersek’s new scheme had to have a different name.