Restoring Australia’s natural beauty
The Westmere Regeneration Project aims to support local graziers by helping to restore the natural vegetation and regenerate the local landscape in New South Wales.
Carbon offset schemes enable people to offset their greenhouse gas emissions by investing in certain projects.
First thing's first: what are carbon offset projects?
Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are a by-product of various aspects of our lives, including using electricity and gas, and this may contribute to climate change. Individuals and companies can play a role in offsetting greenhouse gas emissions by supporting carbon offset projects.
Carbon offset projects are commonly designed to offset greenhouse emissions through initiatives such as clean energy technology or protecting ancient forests from being cleared. By helping investments in carbon offset projects around the world, individuals and businesses can offset their greenhouse emissions by investing carbon credit projects.
Not all carbon offsets are created the same
There's a wide range of carbon offsets that differ in source, methodology and price. We follow a rigorous selection process when purchasing our carbon offset units. The eligible units we buy meet the high standards of requirements set by Climate Active.
Quality matters to us, so we take appropriate steps to assess a project's integrity and ensure we help deliver meaningful outcomes for communities.
The Australian landscape
Australia has a unique beauty that is loved by locals and visitors from around the world. It’s a country with vast plains, gently rolling hills, beautiful beaches and desert land.
Large areas of Australia are also grazed by livestock and overrun with feral animals, such as goats and pigs. While livestock grazing is an important economic activity for rural Australia, it can limit forest growth as tree saplings are often damaged or eaten by stock before they can grow.
Many carbon offset projects aim to help restore natural vegetation to land and regenerate the Australian landscape, like the Australian Westmere Native Forest Regeneration Project, which we've previously invested carbon offsets in.
What is the Westmere Regeneration Project?
The Australian Westmere Native Forest Regeneration Project was established to help regenerate land in New South Wales cleared of vegetation and where regrowth of native plant life has been suppressed for at least ten years, usually by grazing or feral animals.
The land is allowed to regenerate due to project activities including eliminating livestock, managing feral animals and removing non-native plants.
By allowing native vegetation to grow and flourish, livestock may be reintroduced into the area in a managed way that does not significantly impact the accumulated carbon. Farmers can then begin agricultural production and create revenue, in turn helping to fund more sustainable practices.
How to support carbon offset projects
We're enabling our customers to reduce their carbon footprint by contributing to pre-purchased carbon offsets. These offsets come from projects that our team has carefully selected for the benefits they drive for communities.
When it comes to choosing carbon offsets, there’s a wide range of options to look at. But we believe in selecting projects that we think will make a real difference.
This is why we’re supporting projects with Sustainable Development Goals developed by the United Nations.
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are a blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.
Whilst we surrendered carbon offset credits purchased in the Australian Westmere Regeneration Project, this is an example of a project we consider drives benefits consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals.
That means that when our customers choose to offset emissions associated with their electricity and gas plans, they’re contributing to projects that support initiatives like native forest regeneration.
Want to carbon offset your energy usage?
We offer carbon neutral options certified by Climate Active on our energy plans, so you can play your part in offsetting your home's carbon emissions.
