The Bright Future

Carbon: The unlocked resource

Carbon is the emerging opportunity of the twenty-first century. Until now, carbon sector has been an emerging economy, with informal actions by businesses occurring periodically. This nascent industry, however, represents the key commodity market of the future.

The International System for Carbon Trading

The formal international response to the challenge of climate change has been to try to limit bad carbon behaviours and to attempt to incentivise good carbon behaviours. Many approaches have been proposed and implemented for doing so, and each country is introduced to various measures by the international community depending on the economic and national circumstances of the country, and their willingness to participate.

For most countries, their interest in exposure to carbon management mechanisms has been enthusiastic, since they stand to benefit from incentivisation. For the small group of “most developed nations”, exposure to carbon management mechanisms is unwelcome, but obligatory given their role as most responsible in global climate change.

The international community has moved to package climate related risk into risk units (carbon offsets/carbon credits). Thus, pollution production is costed as both a risk cost and an expenditure against the biospheric total capacity to absorb pollutants. Conversely, sequestration (the apprehension of existing carbon pollutants) and abatement (the avoidance of further pollutants and thus future cost) have become mitigation elements in the system.

Production of mitigation is valuable.

Carbon Economics

Simply by supporting carbon markets in their country, governments can stimulate businesses to adopt financially positive carbon positions. Businesses that have sustainable practices are sustainable businesses, that is, in business, there is no difference between environmental sustainability and financial sustainability. A business that cannot sustain its environmental practices cannot either sustain its financial viability; and no investor wishes to invest in a business that has no future because its no viable because of its ultimately limiting environmental impacts.

Once businesses can secure their market and trading viability with respect to environmental sustainability, any improvement moves them from an environmentally sustainable position (including carbon neutrality) to a carbon advantage position. Businesses that have moved to a position beyond carbon neutrality are able to sequester carbon and, with the proper registration of methods of practice, onsell that carbon advantage on the carbon market.

In this way, business is incentivised, not only to achieve carbon neutrality, but to obtain a carbon advantaged position. In so doing, the regular action of the economy begins to solve the problem of carbon emissions. A government that is properly implementing the carbon market in their country is achieving the vision of the international climate change community by empowering their economy and simultaneously correcting the carbon crisis.

The development of positions moving towards the pro-carbon economy

When business is strongly achieving environmental sustainability and moves into the carbon advantaged operating zone, the national economy begins to act as a carbon exporter, selling excess carbon mitigation as credit/offsets onto the global carbon market. This reformation of the economy, beginning with the government taking basic measures to adopt good climate change policy and a national carbon exchange, strengthens business, improves living conditions, bolster national science, creates jobs, reinforces green technologies and providers, and places the economy into a new export market in carbon.

All countries can participate

The United Nations tends to view countries as being in one of three basic economy classes:

• • developing nations;
  • transition economies;
  • advanced nations.

Regardless where a country might fit into this view of economic development, the country can participate in the global carbon marketplace. No matter whether a country's economy is advanced or developing, the basic truth is that the country's fundamental wealth lies in its land assets and its human assets. Both of these economic areas can be environmentally streamlined by exposure to good government climate change policy and market forces stemming from the presence of a national carbon exchange mechanism.

The economy of a nation is apportioned into two large realms. It sits on two great foundations: human resources, and land resources.

In the case of developed economies, carbon advantaged business positions can be achieved by adopting better industrial methods that achieve or exceed carbon neutrality.

In the case of developing economies, carbon advantaged positions can be achieved by taking advantage of land resources, including harnessing agricultural practice as a national asset, forestry practice, soil policy, waste management practice, and especially the use of environmentally constructive development programmes.

Looking at the way ahead

So often, carbon mitigation is viewed as a burden to be carried by business and government. This outlook is a restrictive view of the situation. The emerging carbon industry is a real asset to a country; it is not an expense. The only reason it is an expense at present is because it is in the disadvantaged operating quadrant, and a large part of the reason for this is because it is being treated as a burden rather than as an emerging opportunity.

The international environmental community talks in terms of environmental sustainability. This is not a platitude and it is not a flippant choice of words. There is often a view expressed that if a country doesn't pursue environmental sustainability, it will suffer from a damaged environment and this will be the sacrifice of some environmental niceties for an economic gain.

In fact, the opposite is the case. Certainly, the environment stands to be harmed by ignoring the value of good environmental stewardship. Talking about a damaged environment, however, is another way of saying that the land resources portion of the economy has been damaged. This, along with the human resources portion of the economy, is a nominal half of the foundation of the national economy. Failure to pursue good environmental programmes is the act of allowing national capital to be lost.

Thus, it is not a drain on the economy, but a building of the economy to strive for sustainability. As the choice of words suggests, sustainability is literally the state of having secured your economic future.

An economy that has achieved an overall carbon advantageous position has migrated to the new economy. Much as the internet changed the rules of global economy, the coming carbon barrier will constrain any industry that does not adapt to it. A national economy that has made the migration to the pro-carbon economy is operating in the economic mode required for the future and it is financially secured and positioned for economic success for the oncoming pro-carbon age.

The Tools for the job

The ability to put the planning in place for the necessary policy framework for good environmental programmes is provided by GEObjects Tarah (click here). The infrastructure for the national carbon exchange is provided by our turn-key product, GEObjects Nexus (click here).

Now any country can possess the world's most advanced tools for achieving a nationally carbon advantaged position!