How to make money on carbon credits

The topic of carbon neutrality has been one of the most discussed topics in the world for many years. Russia has also begun to pay great attention to it in recent years. And today the issue of reducing CO emissions₂ remains relevant. Many companies in Russia are investing in environmental projects to reduce damage to nature. However, not everyone knows that you can also earn money on this. Olga Lakustova, Director of the Fund for Support and Development of Environmental and Other Socially Significant Projects Our Fund, told Moskovskaya Pravda how to do this.

Neutralization of the carbon footprint is carried out in two ways: technological and compensatory. The first is the use of technologies aimed at reducing CO emissions₂. This requires large material investments and modernization of production. However, for some industries, such as aviation, this path is not possible. At the moment, there is no environmentally friendly fuel that could become an analogue of aviation kerosene on acceptable terms. But you can go another way – to offset your carbon footprint. For example, with the help of forest climate projects. So, some companies allocate money for planting forests, which in the future will absorb carbon dioxide, thereby compensating for the damage caused to nature by man.

According to the expert, there is another promising direction to reduce the effects of CO emissions₂. We are talking about the so-called “blue forests”.

“The absorbing capacity of the oceans is no less, and even exceeds in this respect the efficiency of green spaces on land,” says Olga Lakustova. – This effect is provided by algae that live in water bodies. But they, like trees, need restoration. In recent decades, marine vegetation has been actively dying as a result of global warming, acidification of the oceans and at the hands of man. Therefore, artificial algae farming projects can also be categorized as carbon offset projects.

Meanwhile, in many countries there is already a practice of trading in carbon units (CU).

For reference: A carbon credit is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that have been averted due to the implementation of a climate project.

The technology is simple: companies invest in climate projects, then the number of tons of CO is calculated using a special method.₂, which can be compensated by grown forests, and is converted into CU. 1 UE corresponds to 1 ton of compensated CO emissions₂. And these same UEs are sold on the stock exchange to other companies that want to offset their carbon footprint, but are not able to do it on their own.

“This practice has also come to Russia,” said Olga Laksutova. – In September last year, the first UEs were sold at the National Commodity Exchange, which is part of the Moscow Exchange group. According to the director of the National Commodity Exchange Nikita Zakharov, so far only one project has been registered in the Unified Register of Carbon Units and entered the exchange auction, which generated 96 CU. This is a company in the Sakhalin region that has replaced diesel generators with solar panels. According to the degree of complexity of implementation, the project was quite simple, so it was possible to evaluate the result in a short time and transfer it to UE. Now several more similar projects from other companies are in preparation for registration in the Register of Carbon Units.

UE as a commodity is quite promising. It is quickly put up for auction, as it is a virtual product. And transactions with carbon units are as simple and reliable as with securities.

– In Russia, exchange trading was carried out on the principle of an auction. The initial price of the lot, that is, one UE, was set by the seller at the level of 900 rubles. As a result, 20 lots of 1000 rubles were sold. This is the first such experience in the Russian Federation, which allowed us to work out the UE exchange trading technology and showed its viability,” Olga Laksutova said.

According to experts, the market for carbon units in Russia has great potential, and by 2025 its turnover may reach about 18 billion rubles. And this once again proves that climate projects not only have a beneficial effect on the environment, but can also be profitable.

Alena Bodrienko.

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