Here are some common terms and acronyms used in soil carbon farming, decarbonisation and ecosystem restoration:

• ACCU: Australian Carbon Credit Unit, regulated by the Clean Energy Regulator. One ACCU represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 -e) greenhouse gas that is not released into the atmosphere.

• Carbon Farming: A set of land management practices aimed at increasing the amount of carbon stored in soils and vegetation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

• CBAM: Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. This is the EU's tool to put a fair price on the carbon emitted during the production of carbon intensive goods that are entering the EU, and to encourage cleaner production in non-EU countries. Other countries are considering introducing CBAMs, which may limit access for Australian commodities that have high carbon footprints.

• CEA: Carbon Estimation Area, the area where carbon will be stored, and for which Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) may be issued.

• Core: a full-length soil sample collected in the field.

• Ecosystem Service Payments are incentives offered to farmers or landowners in exchange for managing their land to provide an ecological service, such as biodiversity or wildlife habitat. In Australia, these payments will operate as part of the Nature Repair Market.

• Emission Reduction Fund (ERF): An Australian government initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing carbon credits from eligible projects that reduce emissions.

• GHG: Greenhouse Gas(es), are gases in the earth's atmosphere that trap heat. The most common GHGs are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Carbon dioxide is widely reported as the most important greenhouse gas because it currently accounts for the greatest portion of the warming associated with human activities.

• Insetting: (Carbon) insetting is a strategy used by companies to reduce their emissions and carbon footprint within their supply chain or industry. This approach involves investing in nature-based solutions such as reforestation, agroforestry, renewable energy, and regenerative agriculture.

• Nature Repair Market: This market will encourage and support biodiversity projects to restore and protect nature. Australia’s Nature Repair Act 2023 underpins the nature repair market. This legislation establishes a transparent framework, issuing Australian landholders with tradeable biodiversity certificates. The Act will provide the rules that ensures integrity, enforcement, and genuine environmental benefit.

• Offsetting: a reduction in GHG emissions – or an increase in carbon storage (e.g., through land restoration or the planting of trees) – that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere.

• Regenerative Agriculture: Farming that seeks to restore and enhance the health and fertility of the soil, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting biodiversity.

• Scope 1 emissions: These are direct greenhouse (GHG) emissions that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organisation.

• Scope 2 emissions: These are indirect GHG emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat, or cooling. Although scope 2 emissions physically occur at the facility where they are generated, they are accounted for in an organisation's GHG inventory because they are a result of the organisation's energy use.

• Scope 3 emissions: These are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by an organisation, but that the organisation indirectly affects in its value chain. An organisation's value chain consists of both its upstream and downstream activities. The emissions created on a farm are considered part of the Scope 3 emissions profile for the buyer of the commodities produced on that farm.

• SOC: Soil Organic Carbon, is the carbon that remains in the soil after partial decomposition of any material produced by living organisms.

• Strata: a sampling area within a CEA, with most CEAs being divided into three or more strata.

• Sequestration: the removal of Carbon Dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it in soil and/or trees.

• TFCD: The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures is an organisation that was established in December 2015 with the goal of developing a set of voluntary climate-related financial risk disclosures. These disclosures would ideally be adopted by companies which would help inform investors and other members of the public about the risks they face related to climate change. As part of TCFD, companies are under pressure to disclose their Scope 1, Scope 2 and, if appropriate, Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the related risks.

• TFND: The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures has developed a set of disclosure recommendations and guidance that encourage and enable business and finance to assess, report and act on their nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities. Companies are coming under increasing pressure to disclose nature-related risk data for water, climate, and nature which includes their supply chains.