Soil-based carbon farming: Opportunities for collaboration

Baumber, A; Cross, R; Ampt, P; Waters, C; Ringbauer, J; Bowdler, I; Scott, A; Gordon, L; Sutton, A; Metternicht, G

Soil-based carbon farming: Opportunities for collaboration

Baumber, A

Cross, R Ampt, P Waters, C Ringbauer, J Bowdler, I Scott, A Gordon, L Sutton, A Metternicht, G

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Publisher:: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Rural Studies, 2024, 108
Issue Date:: 2024-05-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Baumber, A https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8560-8661
dc.contributor.author	Cross, R
dc.contributor.author	Ampt, P
dc.contributor.author	Waters, C
dc.contributor.author	Ringbauer, J
dc.contributor.author	Bowdler, I
dc.contributor.author	Scott, A
dc.contributor.author	Gordon, L
dc.contributor.author	Sutton, A
dc.contributor.author	Metternicht, G
dc.date.accessioned	2025-01-09T05:38:42Z
dc.date.available	2025-01-09T05:38:42Z
dc.date.issued	2024-05-01
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Rural Studies, 2024, 108
dc.identifier.issn	0743-0167
dc.identifier.issn	1873-1392
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/183163
dc.description.abstract	Soil-based carbon farming has been identified in previous research as a win-win for farm productivity and the mitigation of climate change through carbon sequestration. However, it faces numerous barriers to adoption, including low carbon prices, high transaction costs, information barriers and high uncertainty around future outcomes, markets and policy conditions. Collaboration between landholders and other stakeholders has been proposed as a potential means of overcoming some of these barriers, while maximising the benefits of soil-based carbon farming. In this article, we present the results of a two-stage process investigating collaborative soil-based carbon farming in Australia, involving national-scale key informant interviews and a regional-scale Participatory Rural Appraisal. Fifty-three interviews were undertaken with key carbon farming stakeholders, including landholders, landholder groups, carbon service providers, government, researchers and the financial sector. Collaboration was seen to offer the greatest advantages in relation to knowledge-sharing and social support, followed by its potential to increase carbon income through enhanced bargaining power and the optimisation of co-benefits. The advantages of collaboration were less clear in relation to reducing costs or maximising farm productivity and collaboration also presents new challenges around risk and complexity. Under current conditions, informal collaboration models were seen to offer the best balance between the benefits and risks, with existing cooperatives also well-placed to diversify into carbon. Alternative conditions in the future or in other locations would be needed to facilitate models involving joint projects, pooled credits, shared land management and/or the creation of new carbon-specific cooperatives.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Rural Studies
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103268
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1205 Urban and Regional Planning, 1604 Human Geography, 1608 Sociology
dc.subject.classification	Geography
dc.subject.classification	4404 Development studies
dc.subject.classification	4406 Human geography
dc.subject.classification	4410 Sociology
dc.title	Soil-based carbon farming: Opportunities for collaboration
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	108
utslib.for	1205 Urban and Regional Planning
utslib.for	1604 Human Geography
utslib.for	1608 Sociology
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Provost
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Provost/TD School
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-01-09T05:38:41Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	108

Abstract:

Soil-based carbon farming has been identified in previous research as a win-win for farm productivity and the mitigation of climate change through carbon sequestration. However, it faces numerous barriers to adoption, including low carbon prices, high transaction costs, information barriers and high uncertainty around future outcomes, markets and policy conditions. Collaboration between landholders and other stakeholders has been proposed as a potential means of overcoming some of these barriers, while maximising the benefits of soil-based carbon farming. In this article, we present the results of a two-stage process investigating collaborative soil-based carbon farming in Australia, involving national-scale key informant interviews and a regional-scale Participatory Rural Appraisal. Fifty-three interviews were undertaken with key carbon farming stakeholders, including landholders, landholder groups, carbon service providers, government, researchers and the financial sector. Collaboration was seen to offer the greatest advantages in relation to knowledge-sharing and social support, followed by its potential to increase carbon income through enhanced bargaining power and the optimisation of co-benefits. The advantages of collaboration were less clear in relation to reducing costs or maximising farm productivity and collaboration also presents new challenges around risk and complexity. Under current conditions, informal collaboration models were seen to offer the best balance between the benefits and risks, with existing cooperatives also well-placed to diversify into carbon. Alternative conditions in the future or in other locations would be needed to facilitate models involving joint projects, pooled credits, shared land management and/or the creation of new carbon-specific cooperatives.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/183163