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Climate Change has quickly become one of the most significant issues on the agenda for many companies and organisations. Brian Scarsbrick, Chief Executive of Landcare Australia, believes that, despite the many challenges we face from global warming, the opportunities are just as compelling.

The immediate and long term challenges of Climate Change have become all too apparent in recent years. Many organisations have realised quickly that their environmental impact or footprint is now a critical area of risk, both in terms of operation and reputation.

The best performers – those who strive for sustainability – are those that face up to the risk and from it create opportunity. For many, the risk of not doing this already far outweighs the alternative.

The warming of the earth's atmosphere has already brought about significant changes to our environment that have provoked the development of a range of innovative response strategies, both for the short and long term.

In Australia, we face some unique and compelling short term problems, clear from recent manifestations – floods, drought, even Cyclone Larry - of global warming on our continent and the impact on our homes and businesses.

In the longer term, rising sea levels and coastline erosion could devastate our beaches and coastal areas, and the livelihoods they serve. It's clear that while addressing current impacts we need to be acting now to establish long-term solutions.

The opportunities emerging from this debate are being driven by a range of factors: changing customer attitudes to the products and services they buy; growth in the sophistication of public scrutiny of an organisation's 'green' credentials and community impact; rapid developments in new technology and innovation; and increased regulatory pressure.

These drivers are felt nowhere more keenly than Australia's agri-business sector which, with its relatively high exposure to the impacts of Climate Change, has a compelling motivation to contribute to long term solutions.

One of the obvious opportunities is in renewable power and the growing and refining of bio-fuels to replace non-renewable fuels from crops like canola and sugar cane (which are fermented to form ethanol). This is a market with huge potential at the leading edge.

Carbon offsetting is another important emerging market and one in which the agricultural sector has a critical role to play. Many businesses are already engaged in the process; having spent time identifying ways to reduce energy consumption, companies are reaching the point where to reduce further is less economic than paying to offset their use.

Australians and Australian businesses are now realising that planting and maintaining vegetation to take carbon out of the atmosphere, absorb it and store it, is an invaluable way to offset carbon emissions.

Carbon offsetting represents a natural partnership opportunity for business and the bush. It's a link that Landcare has been passionate about developing over many years.

We've been planting trees since 1990 to create the pool which is now being sold off to those who need to engage in carbon trading.

The program, CarbonSMART, is a carbon brokering and pool management service that targets conservation-based plantings throughout Australia. It's a not for profit venture which can provide an income stream to farmers and allow companies to fulfil their emission reduction targets.

Landcare CarbonSMART guarantees the trees on land for 100 years. The land is protected by a stewardship covenant, similar to the approach taken with the listed buildings program, to ensure longevity and security of the offset investment.

Offsetting is not about letting emitters off lightly. It's a means of enabling business not only to manage responsibly their impact on the environment but also to make an important investment in driving and enhancing Australia's biodiversity.

The principle can be applied in other innovative ways. To restore and protect Australia's unique biodiversity, efforts are now being made to create a market for trading in this area.

For instance, in South Australia a trading scheme has been developed to allow landowners to contribute in kind to a major $20m drainage infrastructure program by placing their biodiversity assets under stewardship.

Their contribution will 'offset' the costs and impacts of the program by improving biodiversity management and conservation. This approach has the potential for wide application, for instance in property development or other major infrastructure projects.

While voluntary schemes such as these are increasing in number, the priority remains the development of a national trading framework. This will allow more orderly trading and, critically, engagement with international market to help Australian businesses realise the wider commercial opportunities.

Carbonsmart Article