ACCU Scheme – Draft Integrated Farm and Land Management (IFLM) Method Consultation
The Integrated Farm and Land Management (IFLM) was intended to be the integrated, whole-of-farm method that Australian agriculture has sought for over a decade. It was promised to be a framework that would consolidate multiple Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) management activities under a single structure approach and reducing fragmentation across methodologies. This vision has simply not been achieved. The current scope not only reflects a shadow of its former position as it is now limited to regeneration outcomes only, but it does not include any existing Carbon Farming Initiative method under its auspicious. It is not even a rebranding of existing methodologies. This is a serious failure to deliver the genuinely integrated approach promised.
To achieve meaningful uptake across the sector and fully leverage opportunities and participation within the carbon market, the scope of the IFLM must be broadened beyond its current settings. Clear direction is required on how existing methods will be incorporated efficiently, alongside sustained Commonwealth leadership and support in the development of future proponent-led modules. The credibility of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme hinges on there being practical farmer-ready methodologies, not more delay and narrowing. To be clear the current model lacks the architecture that would enable the relatively seamless inclusion of existing and new stand alone methodologies into the IFLM. If the stated policy intent of having any further development of IFLM is only through proponent led processes this makes it all the more difficult and compromises the utility of the process.
Stacey Davidson