AGRIBUSINESS manager Rewards Group has become the third Western Australian company to gain accreditation as a Greenhouse Friendly provider.
AGRIBUSINESS manager Rewards Group has become the third Western Australian company to gain accreditation as a Greenhouse Friendly provider.
Rewards Group managing director and co-founder Dr Andrew Rado said the federal government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme had been a big stimulus to the business.
"That was a huge boost, that was a boost both to us and to the forestry industry in general, when they came out and said companies needed to offset their carbon emissions," Dr Rado told WA Business News.
Rewards Group is the third WA business to be awarded Greenhouse Friendly Accreditation, joining Carbon Conscious and CO2 Group.
Dr Rado said the accreditation was an important milestone for Rewards Group, providing clients with full confidence that its sandalwood and teak plantations are Kyoto compliant and managed to the highest international standards.
"The role of forests in reducing carbon emissions is being increasingly recognised, including in the Australian government's planned introduction of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme," Dr Rado said.
"The CPRS will impose mandatory emission reduction liabilities on Australian companies. Forestry abatement will be an important and commercially attractive emission reduction option under the CPRS," he said.
"The Greenhouse Friendly standard is expected to underpin the quality assurance requirements of the CPRS."
Dr Rado said to be accredited the company needed to demonstrate robust management, measurement, monitoring procedures and systems.
"One key issue with green accreditation is that you have to be able to demonstrate permanence, so the forest has to exist for 70 years or more," he said. "Most of the forests are destined to become national parks.
"We had to demonstrate permanence, protecting the forest from fire using firebreaks, protecting it from weeds and vermin.
"All these things we can do because we've been doing it for the last 10 years."
CO2 Group agreed that the CPRS presented a large market opportunity.
"The introduction of the CPRS will bring significant market opportunity and we look forward to building market share," CO2 Group managing director Andrew Grant said.
