Labor and the Nationals have found common ground on the need to boost carbon farming in Australia.
The land sector has been the biggest contributor to emissions abatement over the last two decades, but continued sustainability is expected to be difficult.
Labor's energy spokesman Mark Butler says he wants carbon farming to reach a point where it's not dependent on the voluntary market or on support from the Emissions Reduction Fund.
"I seriously want to reinvigorate strong private sector demand, particularly from liable entities but also over time tapping into the international market that will develop as part of the (Paris Agreement) sustainable development mechanism," he told an emissions reduction summit in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Carbon farming can involve capturing and holding greenhouse gases in vegetation and soil or changes in land management like agroforestry or methane-reducing feed supplements.
Mr Butler wants to see Australians eventually selling into international carbon markets as well as buying.
But it can't happen while large scale land clearing continues, particularly in Queensland and New South Wales, he said.
Mr Drum said Australia was a slow adopter to ideas like carbon farming, which should be mainstream.
He won't advocate cutting cattle herds because rising herd numbers create prosperity for farmers, but he believes initiatives must be developed to teach farmers about using their land to offset carbon.
"Right across Australia we have many high-value farms which have a bit of scratchy territory off to the side of their farm and that's perfect to be involved in either tree planting or try different styles of sequestration," he said.
