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Fact Sheet

A photograph of land with crops in the foreground and some trees in background.
Greenhouse gas storage and mitigation can take place in rural Australia.

Carbon and rural land use: key findings

The report 'An analysis of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Biosequestration Opportunities from Rural Land Use' estimates the amount of greenhouse gases that can be stored or mitigated by changes in rural land use in Queensland and more broadly, Australia.

Introduction

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Prepared by CSIRO at the request of the Queensland Premier’s Council on Climate Change, the report provides the best available scientific information on mitigation strategies and carbon sink options that could help Australia meet its national and international greenhouse gas emissions targets.

While the report has been prepared for Queensland, national estimates have been made and many of the findings translate nationally. The report extends the findings of the Garnaut Review 2008 by examining risks, barriers and uncertainties and by estimating levels of carbon storage and mitigation that are realistically attainable.  

This document summarises key findings and rural land use options from information in the report. The entire report is available online: An Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Carbon Biosequestration Opportunities from Rural Land Use.

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Fast facts

  • Rural land systems have significant potential to store or mitigate greenhouse gases and offset large amounts of Australia’s emissions over the next 40 years

  • Significant uncertainties apply to all the estimates of greenhouse gas mitigation or attainable carbon storage from rural land use. Estimates in this report are based on current knowledge and the advice of more than 100 scientists and national experts

  • Forestry and forest-related options are the most significant and most easily achieved carbon sinks making up about 75 per cent of the total figure attainable for Queensland from 2010-2050

  • Australia’s agricultural sector and land clearing account for about 28 per cent of our net greenhouse gas emissions of 597 Mt CO2-e/yr (2007)

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Mr Roger Nicoll (BA ProfWrtg)
Communication Officer
Sustainable Ecosystems
Phone: 61 2 6242 1645 
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