To limit further temperature rise and the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change, we must significantly reduce emissions while simultaneously ramping up activities that permanently remove harmful greenhouse gases from our atmosphere.

To achieve our Below Zero goal of removing more greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere than we release, we plan to transition from using high-quality commercial carbon credits to developing our own carbon removal projects that are connected with ANU land, research, teaching and partnerships.

Ensuring that all carbon removal projects that contribute towards Below Zero targets have an ANU connection not only acts as a quality control, but also presents the opportunity for us to build capacity in emerging carbon removal research and to inform and strengthen standards within carbon markets.

ANU Principles for Carbon Removal

To guide our carbon removal projects and carbon credit purchases we have developed the ANU Principles for Carbon Removal (the Principles). The Principles establish seventeen guiding principles that set a rigorous standard for ANU carbon removal activities, including projects connected to the University's core business of research and teaching - a unique approach to offsetting carbon emissions in Australia. The Principles also set a high standard for commercial offsets purchased to achieve Below Zero’s interim goals.

The Principles also focus on priority areas for co-benefits: positive impacts that carbon removal projects can have in addition to their climate mitigation benefits. Priority co-benefits include supporting First Nations' connections to Country and traditional knowledge, biodiversity conservation and landscape regeneration, improved water quality, sustainable agricultural production and enhancing adaptation to climate change.