In other words, climate action has started to go mainstream in the business world. But releasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere isn’t the only negative impact businesses have had – and reducing their carbon footprint isn’t the only way they can do good. Water quality, plastic waste, biodiversity and the health of natural ecosystems; these are all pressing environmental issues. And as with carbon emissions, corporations can play an important role in ensuring these challenges are properly addressed. 

Thankfully, businesses working to combat climate change don’t have to go it alone. A wide range of environmental market-based mechanisms are emerging to help meet (and even exceed) ESG goals, with carbon credits just one part of the solution.

In this article, we take a look at three new environmental markets that move beyond carbon. Each market focuses on a specific environmental issue, and provides a targeted, financially incentivised method to drive long-term behaviour change and put the environment on the balance sheet. 

Environmental markets that move beyond carbon.

Plastic Credits

For years, the production of disposable plastics has outstripped our ability to process them, making plastic pollution one of the most pressing environmental issues facing the planet. Technically, it’s solvable: people can use fewer plastics, we can recycle, and companies can reduce plastic waste from their value chains.

Unfortunately, zero plastic isn’t an overnight option for some industries yet. But that doesn’t mean they can’t take action. Enter Plastic Credits, an environmental market designed to help reduce plastic waste in the aggregate, while enabling those who can’t (yet) go without to take ownership of their plastic footprint and make a positive difference.

A single Plastic Credit is generated when a verified plastic waste producer is able to remove, reuse or recycle one tonne of plastic from the environment. Currently, GreenCollar is working with banana farmers in Far North Queensland to responsibly discard or recycle the single-use plastic covers they have traditionally used to protect banana bunches as they ripen. The more covers they remove and recycle, the more Plastic Credits they earn – and the more credits other companies can purchase to help meet their ESG goals. 

Reef Credits 

In 2019, the Great Barrier Reef’s long-term outlook was downgraded to “very poor” – and things haven’t improved much since. One of the causes is fine sediment and dissolved inorganic nitrogen flowing into the reef from farmland across Queensland. Despite farmers’ best efforts, changing land management practice can be an expensive business, which is exactly the problem the Reef Credits Scheme seeks to solve.

The first water quality market of its kind in the world, Reef Credits pay farmers and land managers to make changes in how they use and look after their land. These can be subtle, such as changing the way they apply fertiliser, or more intensive rehabilitation projects to restore gullies or establish wetlands that naturally filter sediment from runoff. Either way, they result in less pollutants reaching the Great Barrier Reef without impacting productivity of the land, creating local jobs, and netting farmers extra income for their efforts. 

Until last month, the Queensland Government was the largest buyer of Reef Credits. But Qantas has just committed $500,000 to purchase 20 per cent of all Reef Credits produced to date, paving the way for more businesses to invest in the health of the Great Barrier Reef. The bulk of the revenue made from the sale of Reef Credits goes straight to farmers, providing them with the additional income needed to make ongoing improvements to the land.

NaturePlus™ Credits

Biodiversity may well be the single most important aspect of a healthy planet. Everything, from the air we breathe and the food we eat, to the economy at large, relies on a great variety of plants, animals and microorganisms working in tandem to keep ecosystems in balance. 

It’s no surprise, then, that businesses are beginning to take biodiversity loss seriously. By investing in programs that protect natural habitats and strengthen biodiversity, companies can help ward off catastrophe, while simultaneously assuring investors and stakeholders that they’re addressing one of the largest environmental challenges facing the planet.

And we’re not talking about protecting a piece of forest over here so you can clear one over there. NaturePlus™ Credits are focused on additionality with a view to achieving ‘Nature Positive’ outcomes that will see ecological systems improving and rebuilding by 2030.

While most payments for biodiversity outcomes are based on actions that are carried out with a view to improving biodiversity in the future, NaturePlus™ Credits are only awarded to projects that have already delivered third-party audited and certified improvement in environmental condition. This means investment in NaturePlus™ Credits represents positive outcomes for nature. 

GreenCollar is running 20 NaturePlus™ pilot projects in Australia with a view to valuing and rewarding adaptive land management that delivers benefits for native ecosystems and species. The first credits are expected to come to market in early 2023.

Environmental markets: the way forward

According to a 2021 report by the UN Environment Programme, over AU$11 trillion worth of investments need to be made in nature-based projects by 2050 if the planet is to come out the other side of the interlinked climate, biodiversity and land degradation crises it currently faces. 

That sounds like a lot of money – and for any individual, it is. But with robust, science-backed environmental markets working to make investment in the environment that much smoother and more rewarding for companies, it’s not only an achievable goal, but a desirable one. 

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Sustainable Development Goals & the Business Perspective

Importantly, the SDGs present a strong policy signal for businesses to shift towards more sustainable practices or be left behind. According to a 2019 study conducted by UN Global Compact and Accenture, 87% of CEOs believe the SDGs provide an opportunity to rethink approaches to sustainable value creation and 48% of CEOs are implementing sustainability into their operations. 

In the past, sustainability was often viewed as a peripheral “green” issue; however, it is now seen as a challenge that can limit their potential to grow and ability to operate. On a global scale, challenges include a diminished critical natural resource base, economic inequities that limit local purchasing power, and a lack of quality workforce due to limited education and health resources.

With the increasingly globalised world, businesses must also address increasing urbanisation, changing consumer preferences, evolving investor perspectives, and weak financial markets. SDGs provide a framework for adopting business policies that achieve better outcomes. Sustainability practices, in particular, focus on corporations generating wealth while conducting their businesses without negatively impacting the environment, society, and the economy generally. However, businesses’ corporate sustainability strategies now need to focus on making a positive impact on at least one core one area: improving the environment and/or society. 

Companies are often interested in many SDGs, but many of them end up “cherry picking” the SDGs relevant to their business operations; rather than addressing all 17 SDGs. Typically three SDGs out of the 17 are most popular for implementation, because they have the most direct (and obvious) impacts on business. 

• Goal 8: Economic Growth and Decent Work to promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
• Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
• Goal 13: Climate Action to take urgent action to combat climate and its impacts.

However, companies will need to think a little creatively about addressing other SDGs, such as Goal 2: Zero Hunger or Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being, and how to address these throughout their business practices. It could be with volunteer programs, donations to a non-profit, or building a medical clinic in an area where they operate. Also, companies have opportunities to invest in or start businesses that focus on other environmental causes besides climate change, such as protecting or restoring forests, reefs, and wetlands, and supporting the transition to regenerative agriculture, which address the SDGs Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, Goal 14: Life Below Water and Goal 15: Life on Land. 

Where SDGs and ESG meet for better corporate sustainability practices

Currently, SDGs are the leading policy framework for companies to implement sustainability initiatives into their operations. SDGs build upon corporate sustainability to encompass and define key criteria for improving business practices to be more conscious of the environment, ensure resilient supply chains, and maintain license to operate within their communities. Some of the SDG metrics include the amount of carbon emissions offset through the purchase of carbon credits, or the number of workers trained on new skills for their employment. Businesses can also tap into a number of international data platforms to determine how well they are doing with implementing SDGs and whether their programs are effective. They set out key criteria by which businesses can define and measure improvements, especially for those companies aiming for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance targets. 

SDGs enable companies to be more proactive in creating long-term and equitable development for business, society, and the environment. Many companies have pivoted towards incorporating ESG issues into their business practices to attract investment.  These ESG metrics are being used by investors today, more than ever before, for financing considerations, which include indicators that measure an organisation’s ethical impact and sustainability practices. Investors look towards a company’s carbon footprint, water usage, net zero strategy, community development programs, board diversity, and transparency in decision making.

How businesses can apply the SDGs in their practices

Organisations can incorporate SDGs into a number of business activities and strategies, such as for decision-making purposes or evaluating supply chains. According to PwC, 71% of global businesses surveyed  have already started to act on how to implement the SDGs in their practices. Yet, most organisations are struggling to classify what SDG-relevant tools are needed, such as impact assessments or geo-spatial mapping tools, with only 13% identifying tools to use and only 29% of businesses have set goals. 

Here are some actions that business can take now to incorporate SDGs into their business plan.

• Choose the SDGs most important to the organisation. According to KPMG, 84% of top companies have identified the SDGs that are most relevant to their business. However, not all businesses will be able to implement each one of the SDGs (and their sub-targets), so developing a strategy around at least one, such as SDG No. 13: Climate Action, and picking a relevant project, like regenerating native forests that sequester carbon, can help jumpstart the SDG journey. Once the goals are identified, they can be linked to specific business activities and integrated into corporate strategies. Businesses can define their priorities by considering which SDGs will have the biggest impact in terms of risk, opportunity, and reward over the medium- and long-terms, such as addressing inequality due to business impacts (SGD No. 10) or reducing single-use plastic waste  (SDG Nos. 13 and 14) as part of a corporate sustainability plan.

•  Develop SDG targets and KPIs. The 17 SDGs have 169 accompanying targets aimed at achieving specific goals. Once the company has identified their priority SDGs, it will need to develop a strategy to implement associated targets as well as establish its key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor and communicate progress. For existing targets and reporting metrics already in place, these should also be aligned with the new KPIs to ensure they work towards SDG goals.

• Communicate and educate stakeholders about SDGs. Knowledge of SDGs in the business community is relatively high at 92%, but the general population is much lower at 33% awareness of SDGs. Businesses, therefore, can include communication and education campaigns in their marketing and operational practices to help inform stakeholders about SDGs and how they are acting to implement them. The demand is there—citizens want businesses to adopt SDGs. 90% of consumers surveyed believe that businesses should adopt the SDGs and 78% would more likely to spend their money on goods and services from these companies.

• Examine current business operations. Current corporate sustainability and business strategies should be examined to determine whether or not they align with SDGs. Companies can identify which business models can be adjusted to account for these new targets and what new products or services to be developed. They can refocus innovation and research and development as well as determine what supply chains need to be changed. For example, SDGs No. 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, No. 13 Climate Action, No. 14 Life Below Water and No. 15 Life on Land are often associated with supply chains. Further, companies can realign sustainability strategies to achieve both corporate and SDGs-centered goals.

• Invest in climate mitigation. Companies are part of the global net-zero campaign to be carbon-neutral by 2050 (SDG No. 13: Climate Action). They can start by adopting, investing, and implementing climate mitigation practices into their organization. Some of these activities are as simple as installing energy-efficiency lightbulbs in their buildings, investing in carbon credits from quality projects, to investing in on-site renewable energy capabilities. High quality and high integrity carbon projects can help businesses achieve their multiple SDG targets and effectively offset their carbon emissions to mitigate climate change. Good projects address multiple SDGs, improving local economies, livelihoods, education, and ecosystems. However, businesses need to ensure that their carbon projects are certified so they have quantifiable, verifiable, and real greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

• Measuring and reporting. As SDGs become the norm, businesses will need to better measure and report their SDGs-focused KPIs. They will be held more accountable by investors, stakeholders, civil society actors, and shareholders. All business goals and targets should be linked to a specific SDG and incorporated into the core business and reporting cycles, such as through mandatory disclosures, performance reviews, and even integrating SDGs into everyday business decisions.

Business benefits of aligning with the SDGs

Adopting SDGs into business practices can unleash a significant opportunity to combine purpose, profits, and sustainability.  By responding to global challenges, threats, and risks, companies can use the SDGs to turn them into business opportunities through their policy frameworks and reporting metrics.

• Expanding into new markets. According to the Business and Sustainable Development Commission report, Better Business Better World, business models related to the SDGs could open up opportunities worth up to US$12 trillion and increase employment up to 380 million jobs by 2030. As more global investment is directed towards meeting SDGs, new markets will be unlocked that focus on sustainable products, jobs, and technology. Sustainable markets involve those trying to reuse and recycle single-use plastics to avoid further carbon emissions as well as  land and ocean pollution; to improve water quality and quantity through green infrastructure and nature-based solutions; and promote biodiversity and ecosystem services through restoration of native forests, grasslands, and reefs.
• Using more resilient supply chains. Examining current supply chains with an SDG focus can help businesses utilise ones that are greener, sustainable, resilient, efficient, and more ethical and inclusive as well as streamlining operational efficiency to reduce costs and waste.
• Amplifying social and environmental impacts. With more holistic thinking, companies can have more effective social and environmental impacts in the communities where they operate as well as those who are impacted by their business operations. This aspect is crucial as part of maintaining social license to operate.
• More investment interest. Businesses that adopt SDGs will also spur new opportunities for investors interested in impact investing as well as opening up new channels of public and private financing, such as through green bonds which support reforestation or regeneration projects.
• Being ahead of the curve. As more countries adopt SDG-focused requirements, companies that have already integrated SDGs into their business practices will be ahead on any regulatory reporting requirements and managing risks.

Embedding Sustainability and SDGs into Corporate Strategies

Sustainability can drive innovation by providing a framework that promotes new business models which drive progress towards the SDGs and opportunities for future growth. Also, business can identify new partners within sectors and across different industries to enable organisations to scale up their efforts to reduce emissions, such as working with farmers to invest in regenerative agriculture projects or sourcing a new, less-carbon intensive material to make a better business product.

As businesses have become more aware of the need for sustainability and implementing the SDGs, the importance of building a  sustainable culture in organisations has never been greater. Businesses can develop their strategy that clearly outlines how sustainability (and the SDGs) is a key focus in all aspects of the organisation, from developing a new mission statement, to complex business decision-making incorporating sustainability goals, to human resources management and sustainability KPI reporting. Incorporating sustainability into business practices enables companies to inspect all aspects of their operations, including how they think about their supply chain from purchasing to sourcing, implementing water and electricity conservation and recycling, implementing safer chemical management, buying energy efficiency products, and even employee training for work and lifestyle changes to reduce their carbon footprint.

Sustainability and the SDGs offer businesses many opportunities to streamline their operations to use less resources, expand into new markets, attract new talent, address risks in supply chains, build social capital in communities where they operate, and obtain new finance and investment flows. Companies around the world have a significant role to play to implement the SDGs and become better global actors to improve profits, people, and the planet. It all starts with a plan and innovative thinking.

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Last year, the Australian Institute reported that 75% of Australians are concerned about climate change – an all-time high for the nation. With mounting public concern, businesses are under pressure to improve their environmental impact. A strong stance on sustainability has become a key differentiator for businesses looking to attract quality talent, maintain a respected brand and mitigate legislative risks.

More and more companies are drawing a line in the sand and declaring a net zero emissions target. But promises are one thing and practice is another. As businesses look to reduce emissions through their value chains and offset what they can’t reduce, it is increasingly important to consider the integrity of credit providers and the quality of the credits themselves. Businesses need to ensure that their environmental commitments remain credible in an increasingly discerning market.

Trusted partners

For a responsible corporate, the environmental credits market can be difficult to navigate. Buyers need assurance that they are investing in legitimate solutions and not falling prey to greenwashing and empty claims. Corporates that are looking to meaningfully change their standing on Environmental, Societal and Governance (ESG) issues, need to look for trustworthy partners.

Principled credit providers can help buyers minimise, or even begin to reverse their environmental impact, and mitigate investment risk by helping them invest in credits from high quality projects. Additionally, partnerships with trusted providers can lend additional credibility to ESG efforts, bolstering marketing initiatives and standing up to public scrutiny. In order to find such partners, businesses need to look for proof of integrity from their credit providers, and interrogate their project development or credit sourcing process, in particular, how they measure and monitor the impact of their projects.

External validators such as certifications and accreditations can help verify that a provider already meets and maintains high standards. B Corp certification, for example, is a designation that a business meets verified standards of performance, accountability and transparency on both social and environmental factors. Certified B Corps, like GreenCollar, have passed a rigorous accreditation process and are transparent about their performance, making it publicly available on their B Corp profile. By seeking an independently verified credit provider, investors can be more confident in the integrity of their provider and the products they offer.

Investors can also look to third party audit records for assurance of quality.

All projects issued Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) under the Emissions Reduction Fund must successfully complete third-party auditing and verification. Responsible investors can look into a developers’ success rate as an indicator of how rigorously they control project quality. 

Quality credit providers will also be happy to share details on project monitoring processes. For example, GreenCollar validates initial carbon assessments with on-ground field work to set project baselines rather than relying on satellite imagery. Projects are monitored daily for fire and drought indicators and undergo change detection and canopy assessments to ensure continuing regeneration of vegetation. Quarterly landholder interviews qualify delivery of project actions, and outcomes are tracked through regular on-ground monitoring throughout the project lifetime.

Projects that perform

A trustworthy credit provider goes a long way in ESG investing, but buyers also need to do their due diligence on the credits they purchase. Carbon credits are underpinned by many different types of projects and investors should seek out credits with high-quality outcomes to maximise their ESG impact.

At GreenCollar, we partner with farmers, graziers, Traditional Owners and land managers to deliver projects with a variety of ESG benefits. We develop projects that are specifically designed to deliver additional social, cultural, economic and environmental gains over and above a specific credit. Our carbon credit projects are not limited to carbon sequestration, but also work to protect and regenerate native vegetation, provide safe habitats for native fauna, mitigate fire risk, improve drought resilience and invest in local communities through job creation.

GreenCollar project outcomes are also structured to be measured and verified. We value project integrity because it helps underpin high-quality carbon credits by providing investors with clear, measured and verified outcomes, and tangible impact stories.

As the carbon credit market expands, it is increasingly important for investors to seek out quality credits and sound projects. Businesses should be looking to invest in credits and projects with a range of impactful ESG benefits and transparent performance metrics.

Investing in outcomes

Trusted credit providers and verified projects can help businesses get bang for the buck – building strong sustainability credentials and mitigating risk in environmental markets. But ultimately, the goal of carbon credits and ESG investing is to have a positive impact on the environment and reduce climate risk.

Environmental credit markets should provide financial incentives for long-term behavioural change. To ensure their investment is delivering on this, investors need to also operate with integrity, seeking partners and projects with real merit and benefit. Not all carbon credits are equal, but credit should always go where it is due. 

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What are Plastic Credits? 

A Plastic Credit is an auditable unit of plastic reduction: ie. a measurable amount of plastic either collected from the environment, or recycled into a new product.

Plastic Credits can be purchased by companies who have exhausted all other avenues for reducing their plastic use (for example, by switching to more sustainable packaging) to mitigate the final portion of their plastic footprint. Businesses looking to remove plastic waste from the environment at scale can also earn and sell Plastic Credits on the plastic offsets market.

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How are Plastic Credits measured? 

For businesses seeking to buy Plastic Credits, the volume of Credits purchased is based on the size of the company’s plastic footprint. These companies can achieve their plastic reduction targets by calculating their plastic footprint, reducing that footprint and purchasing a weight of Plastic Credits (measured in tonnes) equivalent to the weight of plastic they are unable to directly reduce.

While Plastic Credits are measured by weight, they are further distinguished into ‘collection’ and ‘recycling’ units based on the method of plastic waste removal.

Collection represents the environmental service of recovering one tonne of waste from the environment and directing it to an appropriate final destination such as secure landfill, mechanical or chemical recycling, or energy recovery. Recycling represents the environmental service of converting that tonne of plastic into a useful new product.

The number of Plastic Credits issued is based on how much plastic has been collected or recycled above the amount that would have been collected or recycled had the project not taken place. (Which is to say, Verra only counts how much plastic has been reduced or removed above what’s known as the “baseline rate”. Businesses can’t claim credit for reduction that would have happened anyway).

What is the new Plastic Waste Reduction Standard?

The Plastic Waste Reduction Standard is the market mechanism established to incentivise this offsetting and increase plastic collection and recycling globally. (It also sets out the rules and requirements a project needs to follow in order to be certified.)

Plastic Credits form a new ‘currency’ for what is well-known as the 3R Initiative. The 3Rs represent the goals of the enterprise – to Reduce, Recover and Recycle plastics worldwide through a crediting scheme and regulated corporate targets.

Developed by Verra and fellow non-profit BVRio – with the backing of major food packaging companies including Danone, Tetra Pak and Nestle – the Standard enables companies to measure their waste recovery efforts and monitor their plastic footprint through a streamlined, quantifiable and widely-recognised global standard. It’s a welcome initiative that provides a framework to validate, credit and finance waste recycling and recovery projects that tackle this pervasive environmental problem head-on.

Click here to learn more about GreenCollar’s part in this ground-breaking new initiative or click here to register interest in purchasing these Australian-first credits.

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Following the EU’s enhanced Nationally Detirmined Contribution (NDC) submission as part of the Paris Agreement in 2021, a groundswell of support for further climate action has been sought internationally.

But perhaps the greatest interest in the journey towards net zero has come from the private sector. During 2020, some of the Australia’s biggest companies made public commitments to carbon neutrality, including KPMG Australia, Woolworths, Officeworks, Bunnings, Coles and Telstra.

Credit value has been surging both locally and internationally, and is projected to double locally by 2030, so for companies wanting to invest in carbon neutrality, now is the time. But how to go about it?

The Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF)

ACCUs must be purchased from an abatement project registered through the Emissions Reduction Fund, which has a project map of available sources, covering a range of environmental remediation strategies.

The Carbon market Institute (CMI) Marketplace

CMI, working in collaboration with the Clean Energy Regulator (CER), has a list of registered projects, registered through Australia’s Carbon Project Registry and ordered by project type. As well as a place to find ACCU-generating projects, CMI’s marketplace is also a useful local resource for prospective buyers. Contact details provided with each project guide buyers to projects that may be wishing to sell ACCUs or facilitate the sale of another project’s ACCUs.

As a market pioneer in Australia, GreenCollar’s domestic and global team are well placed to advise on how to select high quality and high integrity Australian and international carbon credits across various project types and jurisdictions at competitive prices.

Updated 27 May 2025.

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