New Provincial government changes require you to register for your 2018 carbon credits now or risk not being able to participate in the program this year. MAR 1 2018 | Consumers and Producers | News Release
Memo to Alberta Farmers: NEW Provincial government changes requires you to register for your 2018 carbon credits now or risk not being able to participate in the program this year. Farmers interested in getting paid for their reduced tillage practices must contact an aggregation company as soon as possible.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Changes to the Alberta Carbon Offset System will impact how farmers use the Conservation Cropping Protocol. Farmers used to have some flexibility as to when they applied for their tillage credits; however, under this new system they are now required to forward plan. This means farmers must register with an aggregator as soon as possible to identify fields they are considering for the 2018 growing season. Actual emissions will still be reconciled at the end of the crop year. Aggregators are required to identify a list of all farmers and land locations that are planning to receive credit for generating emission offsets in 2018 to the provincial government by April 30, 2018. If farmers miss this deadline, then they will lose out on this revenue stream for 2018.
This new reporting requirement is aligned with the government’s shift from the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER) system to the Carbon Competitiveness Incentive Regulation (CCIR), which is a new output-based allocation system. Team Alberta will be advocating on behalf of farmers to ensure that systematic changes do not curtail the ability of farmers to be retroactively acknowledged for voluntary practice improvements, which have provided significant environmental benefit over the decades.
Farmers can contact the following aggregation companies for more information and to register for 2018 credits:
Carbon Credit Solutions www.carboncreditsolutions.ca
Agri-Trend http://www.agritrend.com/services/carbon-credits/service-overview.aspx
Farmers Edge https://www.farmersedge.ca/carbon-credits/
Farmers can also contact Alberta Environment and Parks for more information.
Tel: 780-427-5200 (for toll free access anywhere in Alberta, first dial 310-0000)
Email: AEP.GHG@gov.ab.ca
Media Contacts
Victoria Decker
Interim Communications Manager
Alberta Wheat Commission and Alberta Barley
vrussell@albertawheat.com
(403) 219-7906
Michelle Chunyua
Communications Coordinator
Alberta Canola Producers Commission
michelle@albertacanola.com
(780) 224-7970
Rachel Peterson
Communications Coordinator
Alberta Pulse Growers Commission
rpeterson@pulse.ab.ca
(780) 986-9398
Additional Background Resources:
A carbon offset is when one party receives credits for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and these credits can then be purchased by another party to “offset” their emissions levels. One option for large industrial emitters to comply with their reduction obligation under the Carbon Competitiveness Incentive Regulation (CCIR) is to purchase offset credits from other activities that have voluntarily reduced their emissions in Alberta.
Allowing regulated facilities to use market-based compliance tools such as offsets creates incentive for Albertans from all areas of the economy to innovate and invest in activities that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions – from farmers to municipalities to small industry developers. (Source: Alberta Environment and Parks, Alberta Carbon Offset System)
The Conservation Cropping Protocol is the most widely used ‘offset’ for the cropping sector and one of the only protocols currently available.