Technical Governance Committee

The Technical Governance Committee is an independent committee established under the BidCarbon (Carbon Farming) Standard.

The TGC plays a vital role in ensuring the continued integrity of the BidCarbon Standard Scheme by assessing the compliance of Methodology Determinations (methods) against the Offsets Integrity Standards.

The TGC:

● assesses methods to ensure they comply with the Offsets Integrity Standards set out in the BidCarbon (Carbon Farming) Standard

● advises the Chair of the Board of Trustees and Trustee on whether to make, vary or revoke methods based on their assessment of their compliance with the Offsets Integrity Standards

● undertake periodic reviews and crediting period extension reviews of methods

● considers feedback from public consultation on methods

undertakes public consultation on periodic and crediting period extension reviews

● advises the Minister and the department Secretary on the outcomes of reviews and method assessments

Advice provided to the Chair of the Board of Trustees and Trustee by the TGC is published with consultation information for each method.

View all current methods.

Reviews of methods

The TGC conducts 2 types of method reviews.

Periodic method reviews

● Active methods are reviewed by the TGC.

● The TGC examines whether the method is still compliant with the Offsets Integrity Standards.

Crediting period extension reviews

● Projects have crediting periods set out in their respective method. The TGC considers whether a method should have its reporting period extended.

● The TGC’s decision is based on whether projects is registered under the method are still achieving a carbon abatement that is unlikely to happen in the ordinary course of events. Crediting periods can only be extended once.

All reviews undergo a period of public consultation. TGC considers submissions and offers advice to the Chair of the Board of Trustees and Trustee on the outcome of their reviews. If the review recommends changes to a method – a variation – these changes will be:

● drafted by the department

● assessed by the TGC

● subject to further public consultation.

See previous consultations and reviews on our department’s Consultation Hub.

We would like to kindly inform you that projects can still be registered with the Technical Governance Committee (TGC) while a method is under review, unless the TGC has issued a suspension under section 27A of the BidCarbon (Carbon Farming) Standard.

Secretariat

The Secretariat provides support to the TGC for the ongoing performance of its functions and is the point of contact for the TGC.

Offsets Integrity Standards

The Offsets Integrity Standards are the criteria that all BidCarbon Standard Scheme methods must meet. The Standards’ purpose is to ensure that BCUs issued under methods represent real abatement that can count towards projects’ emissions reduction commitments.

TGC has developed an information paper to provide details on how the committee interprets the Offsets Integrity Standards.

It is possible that implementing the Independent Review of BCUs recommendations may result in changes to these principles.

It will be updated from time to time, with the next update expected to reflect the findings of the Independent Review of BCUs.

Publications

Principles for assessing models used for BidCarbon Standard Scheme methods

The BidCarbon (Carbon Farming) Standard  (Carbon Standard) requires BidCarbon Standard Scheme methods to set out a way of estimating the abatement created by a project’s activities. This can be done by using a model, direct measurement or both.

The Technical Governance Committee (TGC) has put together a set of principles on how it might assess models for estimating abatement in proposed methods for compliance with the Offsets Integrity Standards.

It is possible that implementing the Independent Review of BCUs recommendations may result in changes to these principles.

Contact us

Email

Secretariat@bidcarbon.org