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1 March 2007

Westpac and Landcare join forces to establish new carbon emissions offset initiative

Westpac today announced it has partnered with Landcare Australia to establish CarbonSMART, an innovative carbon trading pool and brokering service for Australia.

Westpac's General Manager, Agribusiness Banking, Graham Jennings, said the not-for-profit CarbonSMART initiative will enable landholders to take advantage of emerging carbon trading opportunities and obtain an income from land that currently cannot grow crops or support viable grazing.

"Our partnership with Landcare to create CarbonSMART gives landowners the opportunity to secure a regular income for up to 30 years by maintaining and growing vegetation on their land.

"This initiative allows landowners to benefit in a very real way from the efforts many have made since 1990 to rejuvenate their properties through native tree planting.

"Australia's primary industries have already demonstrated real leadership in the climate change debate, having reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 40% over the past 15 years (1).

"As a bank, Westpac is naturally supportive of market-based systems, such as emissions trading, which encourage innovation and best practice to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (2).

"Westpac's involvement in the initiative supports our recent calls for flexible, market based policy instruments that facilitate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions .

"Westpac's support of Landcare CarbonSMART allows us to add value to our existing agribusiness products and assist our customers with opportunities to diversify their income," Graham concluded.

Landcare Australia's Chief Executive, Brian Scarsbrick said CarbonSMART continues Landcare's commitment to Australian farmers and the sustainability of their land.

"This project provides the opportunity for those Landcare farmers who answered the call to rejuvenate their property to receive income through CarbonSMART.

"Westpac's support in setting up CarbonSMART, and their close relationships with the farming sector in rural and regional Australia, will go a long way to ensuring that the greatest possible number of farmers get access to this scheme," Brian said.

Landcare estimates that a 10 hectare area of trees with mixed species could yield at least $20,000 over a 30 year period, however landholders can access the scheme using areas as small as 0.2 hectares.

The CarbonSMART program will begin in NSW, with other states set to follow.

Westpac has partnered with Landcare on a number of projects to improve awareness and take-up of sustainable environmental practices since 1998, including:

• Westpac's Operation Backyard, a program administered by Landcare that provides funding to local environmental projects, using Westpac employees as volunteers.
• The Westpac Landcare Term Deposit, which allows customers to directly support Australian farmers and sustainable agriculture.
• Westpac encourages customers to stop receiving paper statements by providing access to up to seven years of statements online, and kicked off this initiative with a $50,000 donation to Landcare. Westpac extended its e-statements initiative in 2006.