The woodland way to earn carbon credits
As pressure mounts for long-term solutions to climate change, companies are choosing Scottish woodland to offset their emissions. Paul Schofield reports.
In July last year, Mohammed Barkindo, the Secretary-General of OPeC, declared that Greta Thunberg and other young campaigners were the "greatest threat" to the fossil fuel industry. Such is the impact of the teen climate activist, whose media presence is credited with raising global public awareness about climate change and its potential effects. She joins others influencing the climate debate, such as Extinction rebellion, David Attenborough, the rise of flygskam – flight shame – and Government zeroemissions targets. In January, the mcKinsey consultancy warned financial markets could face upheaval if the risks of climate change are not taken seriously. By 2030, an estimated 105 countries representing 90% of global GDP are likely to suffer extreme physical changes including increased drought, flooding and rising temperatures with potentially serious economic consequences (Financial Times, January 16, 2020). One tangible effect of this growing awareness has been a sharp increase in individuals and businesses of all sizes offsetting carbon emissions, usually by investing in carbon reducing
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projects in developing countries, from improving domestic cooking facilities to tree planting. many airlines, including British Airways and EasyJet, have started offering voluntary carbon offsetting to their passengers while Shell allows customers the opportunity to “drive carbon neutral” with carbon credits from conservation projects in Peru, Indonesia, the USA and the UK. Climate Care, a firm that provides programmes enabling large organisations to offset residual carbon emissions, has reportedly seen the amount of carbon offset increase from 2 million to 20 million tonnes over the past 18 months. Firms are under increasing pressure from both consumers and shareholders to take responsibility not only for their direct emissions but also for what are called Scope 3 emissions – those produced as a consequence of the products or services they provide, including emissions resulting from goods and services delivered through an outside supplier. However, a major benefit of offsetting in the UK is that projects are designed in accordance with strict environmental standards and monitored by
