CK duo ventures into carbon sequestration down under

Staff reporter and Reuters

CK Asset (1113) has joined forces with CK Hutchison (0001) to enter the regenerative agriculture sector by investing in carbon sequestration projects involving an area over three times that of Hong Kong.

Through CK Hutchison's biotech arm, CK Life Sciences (0775), the CK group has acquired leases and related rights over 350,000 hectares of agricultural land in Australia for carbon sequestration.

This area is roughly 3.5 times the total land area of Hong Kong, according to Kam Hing-lam, deputy managing director of CKH and CKA, as well as president of CKLS.

CKLS will manage the regenerative agriculture program.

Kam added that the group will continue to seek out additional high-quality regenerative agriculture projects.

In Australia, carbon sequestration projects must be registered and approved by the Australian Government's Clean Energy Regulator, which issues Australian Carbon Credit Units, an initiative designed to incentivize the reduction or storage of carbon emissions.

Under the initiative, one ACCU is awarded for each tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent avoided or sequestered in a project. These ACCUs can be sold to the Australian government which has already spent more than A$1 billion (HK$5.1 billion) to buy the ACCUs.

The ACCUs can also be sold to private sector buyers looking to offset their carbon footprints or meet government emissions reduction targets.

CKLS deputy chairman Alan Abel Yu Ying-choi said the group's regenerative agriculture portfolio currently employs the human-induced regeneration method.

This method supports native plant and forest regeneration using land management practices like controlled grazing, Yu noted, adding that the group's regenerative agriculture portfolio is expected to sequester about 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, chairman of CKH, CKA and CKLS, noted earlier that regenerative soil management is one area of interest for the group in agriculture and the group is looking for ways to participate in this concept around the world.

In other news, HSBC (0005) has dropped its chief sustainability officer from its decision-making executive board, the bank confirmed on Tuesday as it released quarterly earnings, sparking concern it could become the latest bank to row back on its climate commitments.

As part of an overhaul announced last week, HSBC downsized its 16-person executive committee, with Celine Herweijer, group chief sustainability officer, not named on its new 12-person operating committee.