20 December 2023

Mapping the drivers and impact of the carbon market on rural enterprises

Rounaq Nayak

Senior Lecturer in Farming Systems, University of the West of England Bristol

Rounaq Nayak

Senior Lecturer in Farming Systems, University of the West of England Bristol

NICRE research

The UK, in line with the 2015 Paris agreement and the 2005 Kyoto protocol, has committed to achieve net zero by 2050. To achieve this, writes Dr Rounaq Nayak, Senior Lecturer in Sustainability, Bournemouth University, businesses are allowed to offset unavoidable carbon emissions under regulated and voluntary markets by creating a financial incentive for the biggest emitters to cut back. This has led to a rise in demand for carbon credits. Voluntary carbon markets, which work in tandem with their regulated counterparts, are designed for entities (ie purely voluntary buyers) that want to take responsibility to offset their own emissions. However, there is limited understanding of how these carbon markets can benefit rural enterprises.

Invite to workshop – online or in-person

As part of research commissioned by the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) to help address this gap, the team is organising an online and in-person workshop at the end of January 2024 to identify how rural enterprises (farm businesses, SMEs, land agents, local producer associations and members of the Country Land and Business Association) navigate, understand and exploit the opportunities voluntary carbon markets present, and how they overcome potential limitations and barriers.

The workshop is aimed at three groups:

  1. Landowners eg estates, farmers (including tenant farmers) etc.
  2. Land agents eg Strutt and Parker, Savills etc.
  3. Third party groups with an interest in carbon markets which may not necessarily engage in these markets directly eg National Farmers Union (NFU), Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Forestry England, Green Alliance, Green Farm Collective etc.

The workshop will involve a series of interactive activities to:

  1. Identify the stakeholders involved in selling carbon and how their roles affect carbon markets.
  2. Identify the challenges encountered by carbon sellers when engaging with the carbon markets, especially as it relates to reducing own emissions to meet net zero (current and/or future) targets.
  3. Identify the scope and value of a short animation explaining voluntary carbon markets, with the aim of making it easier for carbon sellers to work in carbon markets.

To register your interest for the workshop, complete this by form by 10 January 2024. For further information contact Dr Rounaq Nayak at rnayak@bournemouth.ac.uk

Loading...