One of the major criticisms of land-based carbon and biodiversity credits projects has been challenges around providing evidence that what was promised has been delivered. Because most of the bodies purchasing credits are in the major cities, and the majority of projects are located in regional or remote areas, results are not always visible in the boardroom.
Remote sensing imagery from satellites or aerial surveys using light detection and ranging (lidar) is one way to provide the verification that investors and stakeholders require. It’s not just a matter of showing the image, however, as the degree to which carbon is being sequestered or biodiversity restored depends on factors including vegetation community composition, soil, moisture, and the overall health of the ecosystem.
Specific software is used to analyse data to gain this granular detail. This takes time if it is done manually, an issue a new technology company, WollemAI, aims to resolve.
Data that supports reporting requirements
The company has developed a platform and tools that incorporate AI and machine learning to support asset owners across property, agriculture and forestry to undertake emissions auditing, identify climate risks and, in the case of land-based users, monitor carbon stocks.
The tech can also be used by investors, including financial institutions looking to provide support to carbon projects, to quantify and assess a site’s potential.
Clients currently include agri asset managers and large agricultural landowners, and the company is also working with some of Australia’s leading financial institutions and banks, including Suncorp.
The reporting outputs have been aligned with international standards, including the Taskforce for Nature-Related Financial Disclosures, the Science-Based Targets Initiative, the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).
The business was founded by Sam Sneddon, former data workstream chair and sustainability steering committee co-chair of the IoT Alliance Australia and John Mottram, former head of food and agriculture, Swiss Re and former head of agricultural commodities at ANZ Bank. Distinguished Professor Fang Chen, executive director of the UTS Data Science Institute, is the chief technology advisor.
WollemAI technical advisor David Carlin, who also leads risk programming for the UNEP- Finance Initiative and Sam Sneddon, co-authored a chapter for the new Carbon Market Institute 2025 Carbon Market report.
They explained how satellite imagery, remote sensing, and advanced machine learning models have revolutionised the monitoring and management of environmental systems.
How it bridges the paddock and the boardroom
Carlin told The Fifth Estate that the value of the company’s approach is that it can help stakeholders (such as investors and corporates) understand more about the impacts and risks of environmental issues.
“In doing so, (it) helps these firms to appreciate the extent of these effects and how to begin valuing them in ways that will drive change.”
In delivering detail on environmental projects, the technology also helps fine-tune ground truthing surveys and other activities. Carlin says both are important.
“We believe that remote sensing data and data gathered ‘in the field’ are not at all contradictory but are complimentary,” he explained.
“The value of multiple data sources (both bottom up and top down) improves the confidence one has in the information and messages the data communicates”
Sneddon said that ground truth data is obtained, with permission, from landowners and their service providers, including agri tech businesses, to validate the AI-powered models.
Prioritisation is always given to direct ‘on farm’ or audited data, she tells The Fifth Estate.
“Our machine learning methodologies use the principle of continued ‘fine tuning’, which means new data sources can be used to calibrate and improve models as they become available.”
“AI and ML present a watershed opportunity to accelerate a net zero, nature positive economy without compromising people or place. We need to change the conversation from what’s impossible to what’s possible right now,” Sneddon said.
Why Australia needs a plan for this kind of data
In their chapter of the CMI report, Sneddon and Carlin also reiterated the call for the development of a Trusted Climate and Nature Data Plan to uplift Australia’s data capabilities and support investor confidence in the net zero and nature positive transformation.
This idea was first put on the radar in 2024 by an alliance comprising Climateworks Centre, Australian Industry Group, Tech Council of Australia, IoT Alliance and the Carbon Market Institute.
In its statement, the alliance said the Trusted Data Plan would “support businesses and government agencies alike to meet the growing number of interrelated, data-dependent reporting frameworks that are arising under policies and programs related to Australia’s decarbonisation, net zero, clean tech and nature-positive plans.”
The goal would be to ensure that the collection of data becomes cheaper for businesses and easier for governments to administer, while also meeting regulatory requirements for disclosure and reporting.