BetaCarbon is a proud Climate Salad member and Industry Report partner, and has seen 89,920,110 kg of carbon captured through 32 government verified projects.
Founder and CEO Guy Dickinson answers some of our questions about the growing Carbon Markets sector.
- Can you tell us a brief description of carbon markets, and why they are an important sector of the climate tech industry?
Carbon markets are an essential part in the transition to net zero and beyond. Because COemissions from human activity are accelerating catastrophic climate change, we need to incentivise its controlled release through market mechanisms that place a price on emissions.
Instead of an emissions-trading scheme (ETS) allocating permits to emit greenhouse gases (GHG), Australia has a carbon credit market where some companies must offset emissions with carbon credits representing 1 tonne of CO-e captured or prevented from being released into the atmosphere. This is similar to the global carbon offset market, where private entities issue credits for COemissions abated by a project. However, Australia’s market is overseen by a government body, with the Clean Energy Regulator responsible for ensuring emission abatement activity is verified.
While carbon credits are not the sole solution to mitigating climate change, crediting efforts to remove carbon from the atmosphere is critical to meeting Paris agreement targets to limit warming under 2°C.
- How are carbon markets developing and expanding?
Even if everyone acts now to rapidly reduce emissions, the IPCC has reported that carbon removal will be needed to offset residual COrelease. This has seen participation in Australia’s carbon markets rise at an astronomic rate, as more companies seek to achieve carbon neutral commitments. This trend is likely to continue given expected changes to Australia’s climate policy, which will place stricter caps on large emitters.
As a result of increased demand, the value of voluntary and compliance market credits has grown around 100% across the board in the last 12 months, with trading volumes reaching record levels in Q1 2022. Interestingly, credits from nature-based solutions like reforestation are trading at a premium to technology based-methods. The continued development of credit methodologies, including blue carbon, also provides future opportunities to value the services provided by coastal and marine ecosystems
- Give us a brief overview of BetaCarbon, and, what is your north star?
BetaCarbon’s long-term objective is to trigger more carbon sequestration and removal and drive up the cost to emit COto incentivise economy-wide emissions reduction. We utilise blockchain technology to create new ways for participants to engage in carbon markets and help properly price GHG emissions through our BCAU token.
Each token representing 1 kg of an Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) held by BetaCarbon. To date, BetaCarbon has purchased and tokenised over 88 million kgs worth of credits from the secondary market and established itself as Australia’s most innovative carbon markets participant. We now also hold an Australian Financial Services License for any wholesale customers looking to use quality carbon credits to offset their operations in their decarbonisation journey.
- What is the problem that you saw, and how does BetaCarbon solve it?
To be successful, the Australian carbon market needs to effectively ensure a price on COemissions and incentivise widescale emissions abatement. However, this is currently not viable, because the way the market currently operates means price transparency is poor, with the market only accessible to wholesale market participants transacting in large volumes. Through our BCAU token, BetaCarbon provides a way for everyone to participate in the market via blockchain.
Click here to find out more about BetaCarbon
And click here to read The Triple Win of Climate Technology: 2022 Climate Tech Industry Report
Cover Photo by Michael Olsen on Unsplash
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