TotalEnergies partners with Australian firms to develop natural carbon sinks

By Sibel Morrow

ANKARA (AA) - French energy giant TotalEnergies announced Thursday that it established two operational partnerships with Australian carbon developers AgriProve and Corporate Carbon to develop natural below-ground carbon sinks in Australia and help prevent savanna fires, notably in Africa.

The company plans to remove more than 3 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere and permanently sequester in the ground using a 20,000-hectare soil carbon sequestration operation that it will develop along with AgriProve.

The two companies have been collaborating since 2017 to foster the development of soil carbon sinks in Australia by engaging with, financing, and supporting volunteer farmers in their transition from intensive agriculture to various regenerative agricultural practices.

TotalEnergies said the new farming system allows soil that is regenerating through improved farming practices to store much more carbon thanks to richer below-ground biodiversity such as roots and nodules.

Farmers in the program also benefit from additional income from the sale of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).

TotalEnergies said its partnership with Corporate Carbon focuses on building a worldwide savanna fire management system based on Australian Indigenous land management expertise to help protect African landscapes.

International Savanna Fire Management Initiative estimates that savanna fires cause the net emission of 2 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent annually, out of which 70% occur in Africa. The partnership will launch initial programs with resident populations in the southern Africa region to implement the necessary practices.

Extensive satellite data and remote sensing will be used to measure avoided emissions achieved through these fire management practices, the company said.

“TotalEnergies' climate ambition is based on a panel of tangible actions, aiming first to prevent and then to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and finally to offset residual emissions. These projects in Australia are real-world illustrations of this approach, complementing all the other priority measures for preventing and reducing TotalEnergies’ emissions,” Adrien Henry, vice president of nature-based solutions at TotalEnergies, was quoted as saying in the statement.