About Action for Climate Change

Action for Climate Change is a program developed by Conservation Volunteers in order to develop some real and practical actions aimed at reducing carbon (Greenhouse Gas) emissions by individuals and businesses. It will be delivered in both Australia and New Zealand.

Reduction of emissions will be encouraged by providing extensive resource material found either on the Action for Climate Change website or recommended links.

Opportunities are being developed for individuals and businesses to reduce some of their unavoidable emissions by providing funding to allow Action for Climate Change to create a series of accredited carbon forests.

Action for Climate Change Carbon Forests - Principles

• Suitable sites will be selected on an ongoing basis and will be accredited via the Department of Climate Change Greenhouse Friendly program.
• The program will announce annually (on July 1) via its website and to its supporters the targeted potential carbon storage activities for its carbon forest sites.
• All carbon forest sites will also deliver significant biodiversity outcomes.
• Providers of funding to Action for Climate Change are not purchasing formal ‘carbon credits’ of any type but supporting genuine offset and biodiversity projects reported upon program wide. 
• Accredited sites will be added on an ongoing basis and detailed upon the website. The potential carbon storage of the sites will be noted. If the total sites selected have a carbon storage potential that exceeds the logistical ability of the program to deliver in the current year (the logistical ability being the annual target) and the funding provided by supporters, this will be communicated to supporters on the website and the plantings will be held over until the following season. Normally the program will only deliver the targeted carbon storage quantity each year.
• All sites will be individually reported upon on the Action for Climate Change website.
• Transparency is the intention of the program.
• Sites will meet the selection criteria below and will also be subject to ongoing maintenance (including risk management strategies) and monitoring by the Action for Climate Change program.
• Sites will have their carbon storage potential estimated at the commencement of the project activity as well as periodical independent assessments of the actual carbon stored.
• The actual land owner (if not Conservation Volunteers) of these sites will enter into a binding agreement with the Action for Climate Change program clarifying the ownership and assured permanency of the vegetation.

Action for Climate Change Carbon Forest – Selection Criteria
All sites selected will have clear and reportable biodiversity outcomes as well as carbon storage potential.

• Site eligibility will be subject to the accreditation process of the Greenhouse Friendly program.
• The activity / project undertaken on the site would not have occurred without the assistance provided by the Action for Climate Change program.
• The sites selected ensure some form of permanence for the vegetation.
• The sites will be assessed and reported on the Action for Climate Change website. Initially the site will be reported based upon its potential carbon storage capacity (this will be done as part of the Greenhouse Friendly Action for Climate Change accreditation process). Subsequent estimations of actual carbon stored will be undertaken using independent verifiers.
• There will be a provable net improvement on the vegetation found on the site since January 1, 1990.