CMI welcomes the appointment of a new full-time Chair of the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC), Professor Karen Hussey, as a timely and important development in strengthening the role of the ERAC as an independent advisor on governance, method development and updates under Australia’s crediting scheme.
The appointment is the government’s latest step in progressing the government’s ACCU Implementation Plan and the position will oversee the transition of the ERAC to the new Carbon Abatement Integrity Committee (CAIC), with adjusted terms of reference, membership, and functions, including the additional appointment of a First Nations member alongside the full-time Chair role.
Professor Hussey is the current Deputy Director General at the Queensland Government’s Department of Environment and Science, and was previously Professor and inaugural Director at the University of Queensland’s Centre for Policy Futures.
CMI CEO John Connor said the reformed ERAC and then CAIC will be vital in protecting scheme integrity and signals a new phase for the crediting framework:
“The ERAC has a really important role to play in overseeing the integrity of the ACCU scheme, and the decision to upgrade the role to a full-time position reflects its heightened importance as the scheme continues to evolve and improve.”
“We welcome Professor Hussey’s appointment and look forward to ERAC taking a more prominent role as it transitions to the CAIC and addresses the current method development and review priorities, including the development of the Integrated Farm and Land Management and Savannah Burning methods by the end of 2023.”
“In this new phase for the scheme, these methods are key to delivering high integrity credits and will play a vital role in the transition to net zero emissions, while accelerating the decarbonisation of key sectors across the economy,” he said.
About the Carbon Market Institute
The Carbon Market Institute (CMI) is a member-based institute accelerating the transition towards a negative emissions, nature positive world. It champions best practice in carbon markets and climate policy, and its over 150 members include primary producers, carbon project developers, Indigenous organisations, legal, technology and advisory services, insurers, banks, investors, corporate entities and emission intensive industries. The positions put forward constitute CMI’s independent view and do not purport to represent any CMI individual, member company, or industry sector.
