The need for a plan
Australia’s agriculture and land sectors are already feeling the effects of climate change.
Australian producers and land managers are innovative and are adapting. But the size of the future challenge can be reduced through strong global action to reduce emissions.
That’s why the Australian Government signed up to the Paris Agreement and committed to ambitious emission reduction goals including reaching net zero by 2050.
Achieving those goals is in Australia’s long-term interests, including ensuring a profitable and sustainable future for our producers and land managers.
Many agriculture industry groups have already committed to playing their part.
Meeting climate goals will help position Australia’s export-oriented agriculture sector to take advantage of shifts in markets. It will better position the sector to meet expectations from supply chains and the finance sector from the global transition towards lower emissions.
What will be covered?
The Australian Government is developing a Net Zero Plan which will outline how transitioning to a net-zero economy can be achieved.
Six sectoral plans will support this work, including one for agriculture and the land sector.
The plans will explore ways to contribute to economy-wide goals to reduce emissions. They will provide the certainty needed to support the new investment required to secure Australia’s low emissions future.
All parts of the economy have a role to play in reaching Australia’s national goals. As a sector, agriculture made up 18.2% of national greenhouse gas net emissions in 2022-23. Emissions and sequestration associated with the management of land, including agricultural land, are estimated separately. Land management is currently a net carbon sink, contributing -16.3% of national net emissions in 2022-23.
Consultation on the Agriculture and Land Sector Plan
Stakeholder engagement is a core part of developing the sector plan.
We ran a public consultation process in late 2023 and early 2024 comprising of workshops, meetings and a submissions process.
The Agriculture, Land and Emissions discussion paper, released on 7 November 2023, received over 230 submissions. Submissions to the discussion paper have been published on the Have Your Say project page.
Workshops were held both online and in-person in major capital cities. A wide range of stakeholders attended the workshops including farmers, experts, representatives from industry bodies, business, finance, First Nations groups, state and territory governments and environmental organisations.
Additional stakeholder consultations held to inform development of the plan include:
- The Sustainable Agriculture Summit in May 2024.
- Agri-Food Supply Chains and Finance Roundtables in September 2024.
- Agriculture and Land Plan Stakeholder Roundtables in December 2024.
We will continue to engage with stakeholders to develop the plan.
What we heard
Key themes have emerged from the government’s stakeholder engagement processes and are shaping development of the sector plan.
There is a strong view that agriculture and land can make a meaningful contribution to Australia’s net zero goals. This must be achieved alongside other strategic objectives including:
- Ensuring Australian producers remain global leaders in low emissions food and fibre production.
- Supporting diverse landscapes, balancing agricultural production, carbon storage and nature repair.
- Delivering benefits for regional communities, producers and land managers, including First Nations people.
The plan will explore priority areas for foundational action, based on themes arising in stakeholder consultation.
To subscribe to updates for the Agriculture and Land Sector Plan development, visit the Have Your Say project page.
Funding announced to drive emissions reduction
The Government committed $60.8 million over ten years to support initial emissions reduction efforts in the agriculture and land sectors, including:
- $4.4 million over ten years for the department to contribute to fundamental research through the Zero Net Emissions from Agriculture CRC.
- $27.8 million over four years to accelerate on-ground action through upskilling of trusted advisors in the Carbon Farming Outreach Program.
- $28.7 million over 10 years to improve greenhouse gas accounting from the national to the farm level.
The package is a direct response to key issues raised by stakeholders on the Agriculture and Land Sector Plan and will support the sector to reduce emissions.