Climate change potentially has an enormous impact on Australia's agriculture and forestry industries and they, in turn, are important contributors of and potential sinks for greenhouse gas emissions.

An issues paper has identified a need for more research to identify low-cost options to enable agriculture and forestry to reduce Australia's net greenhouse gas emissions through participation in an emissions trading system.

The paper, Agriculture, forestry and emissions trading: how do we participate? has been developed jointly by research and development corporations covering a wide range of Australia's agricultural and forest industries.

These are Australian Pork Limited, Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Forests and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation, Grains Research and Development Corporation, Horticulture Australia Council, Land & Water Australia, Meat & Livestock Australia, and the Sugar Research and Development Corporation.

The issues paper highlights that climate and climate change impact directly on Australia's agriculture and forestry industries and they have a key role to play in Australia's emissions profile.

"Agriculture is the nation's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases; forestry provides a significant carbon sink; and much of Australia's emissions abatement so far has come from significant reduction of land clearing from agricultural areas," it says.

The paper finds that agriculture is a candidate for inclusion in any newly developed national emissions trading system which seeks to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively, with changes in agriculture and forestry having the potential to increase sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere.

Land & Water Australia Executive Director, Dr Michael Robinson, said the issues paper had highlighted the need for agricultural and forestry industries, government and the research community to work together.

"There is an urgent need for research to identify low-cost mitigation options for Australian agriculture, develop industry standards for mitigation and offsets, and verify methodologies and practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and maximise carbon sinks on the land," Dr Robinson said.

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Media Enquiries: Kaaren Latham, 02 8204 3852, 0409 809 909, media@lwa.gov.au