Speaker
Craig Clifton
Global Technology Leader, Resilience and Climate Change
Jacobs
Bendigo, Victoria | Australia
Craig is global technical leader in resilience and climate change with Jacobs Engineering Group. In this role, he facilitates interactions among Jacobs’ consultants working in resilience and climate change and helps to ensure Jacobs brings the most appropriate people, skills and technology to projects addressing clients’ resilience challenges. Craig also works on a wide variety of consulting assignments for public and private sector clients, mostly in Australia, on climate change risk and adaptation, carbon offsets and watershed management. He has professional qualifications in forest science and is based in the small regional city of Bendigo, Australia.
Description
The water sector in the state of Victoria, Australia, contributes around 25% of the greenhouse gas emissions for which the state’s Government is responsible. The state’s 19 water utilities have each committed to achieving net zero emissions by or before 2050. While their primary focus is on reducing direct emissions and those associated with energy use, some utilities will need to offset unavoidable emissions associated with wastewater treatment.
Jacobs were engaged to work with Victoria’s water sector to undertake the Catchment Carbon Offsets Trial. The trial explored the use of offsets to help achieve emissions reduction objectives, while providing other catchment-based environmental, social and/or cultural benefits, that complemented State government or regional policies and strategies on climate change, water, watershed management and biodiversity. Concepts developed in the trial were tested in a case study with Wannon Water, a regional water utility servicing south-western Victoria. Several catchment carbon offsets designs were developed and evaluated. They showed that it would be possible to satisfy Wannon Water’s carbon offset requirements (~8000 t CO2e/y), while cost-effectively improving climate resilience, water quality, biodiversity values and recreational and cultural values.
The trial also developed design and evaluation tools to implementation of the catchment carbon offset concept by other water utilities.
Learning Objectives
Participants of this webinar will receive information of the following learning objectives:
- Understand of the opportunities for carbon offset plantings to generate emissions offsets, while simultaneously providing environmental, social and cultural benefits appropriate to water utilities.
- Understand how catchment carbon offset plantings can be designed to provide multiple environmental, social and/or cultural benefits.
- Become aware of tools that may assist in the design and evaluation of catchment carbon offsets.
Webinar Recording & PDH Certificate
Included with your webinar registration is access to a recording of the program and a fillable certificate to self-report your Professional Development Hour (PDH) credit. Your PDH certificate will be available to download once you complete the registration process and receive your confirmation email. Access to the webinar recording is available on AWRA’s Webinar Center and in the email you’ll receive from “Facilitation Team" following the webinar.