Rabobank helps farmers grow environmental planting ambitions
Discounted loans support natural capital sequestration activities
The CEFC is committing up to $200 million to Rabobank Australia to provide discounted loans that help reduce upfront costs for farmers undertaking Environmental Planting sequestration activities under the Australian Carbon Credit Units Scheme.
$200 million
CEFC commitment
Discounts
on eligible loans
Encouraging
environmental plantings
Carbon sequestration has a significant role to play in Australia’s decarbonisation pathway. Environmental planting projects can sequester carbon and introduce important co-benefits, including biodiversity and improved soil quality.Heechung SungHead of Natural Capital, CEFC
Our investment
The CEFC is committing up to $200 million to help reduce upfront costs for farmers undertaking Environmental Planting sequestration activities under the Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) Scheme.
The CEFC investment will support Rabobank Australia in providing a discount of one per cent on the Environmental Plantings Carbon Farming Loans. Rabobank will contribute a further discount of up to 0.15 per cent for these loans.
Environmental planting projects involve planting and maintaining mixed native vegetation on land that has been clear of forest cover for the past five years. A mixture of trees, shrubs and understorey species native to the specific area can be planted with the potential to generate one ACCU for each tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent stored as the trees grow.
These projects can also provide additional benefits to farmland, including increasing biodiversity, improving productivity and land quality, providing shelter for stock and other animals, reducing soil erosion and increasing water usage efficiency.
The Environmental Plantings Carbon Farming Loans help provide a financing solution for farmers in the early capital-intensive years associated with environmental planting projects, where there can be a two-to-three-year gap from planting to when income can potentially be generated from ACCUs.
Please contact your local Rabobank rural manager for more information about this product.
Initiatives like this help to create more pathways for farmers to support their sustainability strategies which have positive impacts on nature complementary to their existing farming operations.Marcel van DoremaeleGeneral Manager Country Banking Australia, Rabobank
OUR IMPACT
The farming sector is in the early stages of its decarbonisation journey, and capital is required to tackle emissions reduction and take a sustainable approach to farmland development.
Carbon sequestration has a critical role to play in helping Australia reach net zero emissions, with an estimated 4.6 gigatonnes of carbon removal required by 2050 to help reduce emissions.1
The CEFC investment supporting the Rabobank loan product provides a way for the farming sector to help reduce emissions through carbon sequestration and to potentially create an additional income stream for farmers.
Environmental planting projects can sequester carbon and introduce important co-benefits, including biodiversity and improved soil quality.
Guidance for farmers navigating environmental planting projects
Rabobank and the CEFC will also produce a practical guide to help highlight some of the key considerations, requirements and opportunities for farmers navigating Environmental Planting projects under the ACCU Scheme.
1 Climateworks Centre for Decarbonisation Scenarios for 2023: Australia can still meet the Paris Agreement
