Oz Cooper Goes Carbon Neutral With Offsets

Sydney-listed explorer Cooper Energy on October 12 said it has become Australia’s first carbon-neutral domestic gas producer by fully offsetting its FY2020 (July 1 2019-June 30, 2020) emissions.

The company stated that it will fully offset all 10,022 metric tons of its FY2020 greenhouse gas emissions including 8,739 mt of scope 1 equity share emissions; 360 mt of scope 2 equity share emissions; and 923 mt of controllable scope 3 emissions. Cooper is investing in carbon offsets generated from Biodiverse Carbon’s Coorong project south-east of Adelaide in South Australia. The project uses 600 hectares of environmental plantings to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units.

“Our strategy is focused on producing natural gas for south-east Australia, in south-east Australia. This means our operations have a comparatively low level of emissions intensity which may otherwise exist with long pipeline transmission. We saw an opportunity to completely offset our emissions well ahead of 2050 and we took it,” Cooper Energy managing director David Maxwell said.

The company plans to fully offset its carbon emissions annually recognising the long-term benefits to the business, the environment, and the communities. Over the coming year, it will be seeking government certification from Climate Active as a carbon-neutral organisation, Maxwell said. Climate Active is an ongoing partnership between the Australian government and Australian businesses to drive voluntary climate action.

South Australia Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME) welcomed the announcement and said that the objective of carbon neutrality represents contemporary thinking combined with a proactive approach to meeting environmental responsibilities.

“Gas is and will remain an important fuel source for the foreseeable future. Cooper Energy’s approach provides a useful template for better balancing production, energy affordability and reliability, and necessary environmental outcomes,” SACOME CEO Rebecca Knol said.