TAXING TIMES AHEAD
Criteria for carbon credits
For practical purposes, the ocean is the most important store of CO2 – the deep ocean contains significantly more carbon than the atmosphere, and the exchange between ocean and atmosphere is very slow, occurring over centuries. Plants and soil hold less than a tenth as much carbon as the deep ocean. Nonetheless, permanent vegetation and soils have an important role to play in carbon sequestration. Carbon capture and storage usually refers to artificial processes for sequestering carbon, typically in industrial settings. Carbon is either collected as it is emitted, or captured from the atmosphere, and stored in reservoirs.
Carbon Jargon Your quick guide to carbon Literacy
The threshold depends on the activity. Emissions from diesel and petrol for road travel are taxed separately through a levy on fuel. Agriculture is not currently subject to the carbon tax. That may change when the second phase of the tax is implemented in 2023, and growers may face taxes on emissions resulting from fertilisers, soil amendments, diesel generators and land-use changes, among other sources. Calculations published by Blue North estimate that the carbon tax on agriculture could amount to approximately R343,00 per bearing hectare. But the tax will impact the fruit industry regardless of whether agriculture is directly taxed or not. Eskom is also exempt for now, but their grace period expires next year. This could result in further significant increases in the cost of electricity. The bottom line is that activities which generate emissions will become ever more costly, either due to price hikes or due to direct taxation. Which brings us back to the carbon-calculator tool. “Your report will highlight your hotspots – those areas that contribute the most to your total carbon footprint,” says Blignaut. South Africa implemented a carbon tax in 2019. Carbon tax works much the same as income tax A tax is levied on emissions above a certain threshold.
For an offset to qualify as a credit, it must represent a reduction in emissions of 1 tonne of CO2e.
Furthermore, the reduction must meet five criteria:
By Anna Mouton
• Additionality. • Permanency.
CO, COe and GHGS
• Not overestimated. • Not double-counted. • Not environmentally or socially harmful. The first two are especially relevant to deciduous fruit and wine producers. Additionality means that the reduction is made in addition to any other reductions that would have been made regardless of a market for carbon credits. In other words, the main driver of the reduction is the anticipated financial gain from trading the carbon credit. If a reduction in emissions is a side-effect of something that would have happened anyway, it does not meet the criteria of ad ditionality. For example, if an entity is legally required to reduce its emissions, it doesn’t qualify for carbon-offset credits. Permanence means exactly what it says – a temporary reduction in or short-term storage of greenhouse gases doesn’t qualify for carbon- offset credits. A common convention is that permanence equals a century – far longer than the lifetime of an orchard or plantation.
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere trap heat that would otherwise radiate into space.
The most abundant greenhouse gas in our atmosphere is water vapour, followed by carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, fluorocarbons and a few others. Carbon dioxide (CO) is the greenhouse gas most generated by human activities. The heat-trapping potential of other greenhouse gases is expressed in CO-equivalents (COe). This facilitates com parison between different greenhouse gases, and allows for their inclusion in emission-reduction programmes.
Offsets and credits
A carbon offset is a reduction in atmospheric greenhouse gases that is offset against emissions that happen elsewhere. The reduction can occur either through not emitting greenhouse gases in the first place, or through increasing the capture and storage of gases that have already been emitted. A carbon-offset credit – usually just called a carbon credit – is a tradeable certificate or permit that represents an emission reduction of 1 tonne of CO2e. In very simple terms, if person A captures and stores 1 tonne of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent, they can earn one carbon credit. They can then sell that credit to person B, effectively granting them the right to emit 1 tonne of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent. Carbon-offset programmes provide quality assurance for offsets in three ways: •They set the criteria for carbon-offset credits. •They review offset projects to ensure that credits meet the criteria. •They operate carbon registries to issue and trade credits.
Fixation is not sequestration
Carbon fixation is the process by which living organisms use inorganic carbon – mostly CO2 – to build organic compounds. Photosynthesis is the main mechanism for carbon fixation. Some of this carbon is incorporated into long- lasting compounds such as wood, but much of it is burnt as fuel during respiration by the plant, and by all the organisms that feed on the plant, either directly or indirectly. Respiration releases CO2, which is why carbon fixation by plants does not equal carbon sequestration.
“That will help you to prioritise, so you can address those areas that will deliver the biggest wins.”
But Blignaut adds, “we shouldn’t forget about the benefits of the carbon calculator for the industry as a whole. There are no other countries with comparable industry-wide projects to calculate carbon footprints. South Africa is the leader in this area.”
Carbon sequestration is the long-term removal of carbon diox ide from the atmosphere.
Most of the carbon on earth is held in rocks, and interacts with the atmosphere on geological timescales of millions of years.
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