Swathes of Scotland are being bought up with the intention of marketing their carbon locking potential to companies which want to “offset” their CO2 emissions. The World Economic Forum describes carbon trading thus, “..planting trees or investing in a reforestation project….can buy carbon credits to establish an ongoing programme of carbon offsetting, so that for every action – a new division or building, a new fleet of vehicles, or a flight and so on – you simply buy more credits to cancel out your emissions.” The Scottish Government see carbon finance as a money spinner. But there is real concern carbon trading and offsetting simply allows CO2 emitters to carry on emitting while trading escalates land prices.
SEDA Land recently held two very popular webinars; one looking at the potential community benefits and problems with such “ecosystem markets”, and the other considering the options for private investment in them, while avoiding the potential disbenefits.
Carbon Trading: Shifting Responsibility? takes a step back to ask some more fundamental questions, including, should SEDA support these markets?
To find out more about this event, including details about the panel and more details on the event, click the link above.